216 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



and desert places, clothing with verdure barren plains 

 and rough declivities. 



I have always attached a romantic interest to the sea- 

 weeds, (Algae,) whose forms remind one of the haunts 

 of the Nereids, of the mysterious chambers of the 

 ocean, and of all that is interesting among the deep 

 inlets of the sea. Though flowerless, they are unsur- 

 passed in the delicate arrangements of their branches, 

 and the variety of colors they display. We see them 

 only when broken off from the rocks on which they 

 grew, and washed upon the shore, where they lie, after 

 a storm, like flowers scattered upon the greensward by 

 the scythe of the mower. When branching out in the 

 perfection of their forms, underneath the clear briny 

 tide, they are unsurpassed by few plants in elegance. 

 The artist has taken advantage of their peculiar branch- 

 ing forms, and their delicate hues, and weaves them into 

 chaplets of the most beautiful designs. 



The sea-weeds seem to be allied to the lichens, and 

 are considered by some botanists as the same plants 

 modified by growing under water, and tinted by the 

 iodine and bromine which they imbibe from the sea. 



The lichens are the lowest tribe in the scale of vege- 

 tation. They make their appearance on naked rocks, 

 and clothe them with a sort of fringe, holding fast on 

 the rock for security, and deriving their chief sustenance 

 from the atmosphere and the particles of dust wafted 

 on the winds and lodged at their roots. They have 

 properly, however, no roots, neither have they leaves or 

 stem; yet they are almost infinitely varied in their 

 forms, hues, and ramifications. They grow in all places 

 which are exposed to air and moisture, on the surface 

 of rocks, old walls, fences, posts, and the branches of 

 trees. Some of the species are foliaceous, resembling 



