20 HANDY LOOK OF 



fixes its growth on marine rocks in tropical countries. 

 Homeless, therefore, as regards its habitat, wandering from 

 sea to sea, and visiting the shores of this and other conn- 

 tries, the baccata is admirably adapted to a watery location. 

 Its hollow pod-like receptacles seem designed to give 

 buoyancy ; and the smallest branch readily becomes deve- 

 loped into a perfect plant — hence the species are continually 

 reproduced, and small branches, broken from the parent 

 stem, not only increase in size, but throw off vigorous shoots 

 in all directions. 



Agardhi, the celebrated naturalist, enumerates at least 

 sixty- three species of sargassum ; "of these, fifty -four are 

 either tropical or sub-tropical, and never extend beyond 

 lat. 42 deg. Specimens, therefore, of each, are found on the 

 shores of the East Indies, China, Japan, or New Holland, 

 Yan Diemen's Land, with those of the tropical Atlantic 

 and the Cape of Good Hope. A few exotic species exist at 

 some distance from the Equator; two are of uncertain 

 origin, and eight are indigenous on widely separate 

 coasts. 



CHAPTER IY. 



Come hither, 

 Nor fear lest danger lurks ; hut firmly stand 

 And look adown the waters. Beauteous plants 

 Quiver and sparkle ; and methinks hright hues, 

 E'en such as Iris flings on watery floors, 

 Are seen among them. 



Beautiful or curious in their ocean sites, grow innu- 

 merable plants belonging to the series Melanospermea^ 

 among which the Fennel-like Cystoseira ( Cystoseira fceni- 

 culacea), common to the southern shores of England, and 

 extending to Spain and the Mediterranean, presents a 



