190 THE MARINE BOTANIST. 



a while, each thread is changed into a string of 

 bead-Hke tetraspores, which structure, we are told, 

 forms in Grymnogongius Griffithsia a most beauti-j 

 ful object for the microscope. All the species of 

 Gigartina, with the exception of G. mamillosa, are 

 very rare on our shores, being confined to those of 

 Devon and Cornwall. G. Teedii has never been 

 seen with tubercles at Torquay, its only British 

 station. In the south of Europe, it is stated to be 

 a common plant, producing fruit abundantly, and 

 with much broader fronds than seen in our speci- 

 mens. Gigartina mamillosa and Chondrus crispus 

 are gathered by the poor, chiefly in Ireland, and 

 sold under the name of Carrigeen or Irish Moss in 

 the chemists' shops. In years of great scarcity, the 

 peasantry on the western coast of Ireland are known 

 to have subsisted entirely on these species, which 

 are particularly abundant on that coast.* 



♦ See "Two Months at Kilkee." 



