MAEINE EOTANT. 43 



Gloiosiplionia, is seen the rare and beautiful Naccaria 

 wiggkii, and the dull -red furry Chuoria [Chuoria hellita); 

 the one delighting the passer-by with its brilliant rose- 

 tinted fronds ; the other, a species of marine lichen, which 

 adheres so closely to its watery habitat, that it can only be 

 removed by scraping the rock with a knife. This strange 

 plant was first noticed on the shores of Norway, and those 

 of the Feroe islands, and has since been found spreading 

 over the surface of bare rocks, and forming smooth glossy 

 patches of from two to three or more inches in diameter. 

 Its ensanguined hue, which resembles a blood-stain upon 

 the rock, accords with many of its sterile habitats amid the 

 strife of elements ; in places, too, once haunted by those 

 fierce sea-kings who spread desolation over the finest 

 portions of Europe. 



There is not, methinks, a fragment of rock, however stern 

 and lonely, or sea-girt, nor yet a sea- weed, humble though it 

 be, and dull of hue, which has not adorable manifestations of 

 wisdom inscribed thereon. Humboldt spoke concerning the 

 Southern Cross, and the emotion which it awakened in his 

 mind, when crossing the vast plains of the New World. 

 " Midnight is past," exclaimed the guide, " for the Southern 

 Cross begins to bend ;" and truly it seemed as if some in- 

 visible hand had gently touched a secret spring, and caused 

 the bending of the Cross, that men who journeyed through 

 the night might be cheered with the hope of day-break. 

 But who, when passing some wild rock, covered with 

 brown-red or blackish-purple tufts of the Griffithsice gym- 

 nogongrus, would expect to see the symbol of our faith in- 

 scribed among them as clearly as the Southern Cross when 

 becoming visible. The fructification of this plant is a 

 beautiful microscopic object — strings of small pear-like sub- 

 stances, arranged with the most perfect symmetry, are each 

 marked with a white cross, and enclosed in ruby-tinted 

 sheaves. Thus much the microscope reveals, bringing 

 hidden things to light, and investing with a sacredness of 



