12 FIRST FORMS OF VEGETATION. 
pared in that respect amongst phanerogamous 
plants. Thus, to the rugged magnificence of 
Alpine scenery, and the dreary isolation and uni- 
formity of the Arctic steppes, and the boundless 
wastes of brown desert and misty moorland—to 
those great outlets from civilisation and the tame- 
ness of ordinary life, these humble plants form the 
sole embellishments. 
So much for the distribution of these plants on 
the land ; their range in the waters is still more 
extensive. Lichens and mosses cover the waste 
surfaces of the earth; diatoms and conferve are 
everywhere miraculously abundant in the waters. 
In rivers and streams, in ditches and ponds, alike 
under the sunny skies of the south, and in the 
frozen regions of the north ; on the surface of the 
sea in floating meadows, and in the dark and dis- 
mal recesses of the ocean only to be explored by 
the long line of the sounding-lead. The ocean 
swarms with innumerable varieties, without their 
presence being indicated by any discoloration of 
the fluid. The Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, 
covering areas larger than the continents of Europe 
and Asia, are peopled by myriads of diatoms; 
various inland seas and lakes are tinged of different 
hues by their predominance in the waters; while 
it has been ascertained, from the soundings ob- 
tained during the investigations connected with 
