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PREFACE. 



Among the ever-alluring and delightful studies of 

 Nature, the pursuit of Marine Botany is worthy of 

 holding a higher place than it has yet attained. It is 

 entitled to rank, not merely as a science appreciated 

 only by the few, but to be rendered subservient to the 

 moral and intellectual culture of the many. True, it 

 is a study from which a great proportion of mankind 

 must be practically excluded, by their remote residence 

 from the shores upon which the treasures of the mighty 

 ocean are to be found ; but in these times, when, upon 

 the approach of the summer months, tens of thousands 

 quit the smoky confines of sunless towns and cities, to 

 breathe the bracing air and bask in the unbroken 

 sunshine of the sea-coast, there is ample opportunity 

 for gratifying the love of Nature by turning to those 

 of her attractive works which to many, in ordinary 

 circumstances, are shut out from investigation. 



In this Handy Book we have devoted a willing 

 service to the thousands who, in coming summers, 



