Tin: MAKIXE ALG.E OF NEW EXGLAXD. 81 



E. FUCICOLA, Fries; Pliyc. Brit., PI. 240; Ner. Am. \Un\, Vol. 1, PI. 

 11 b. {PhijcophUa fucorum and /*. Agnrdhii^ Kiitz., Tab. Pliyc, Vol. \'Iir, 

 PI. 95, Fi«:. L\ ami PI. l)(», Pi^^ 1.) PI. 7, Fig. 3. 



Fronds tufted, half an inch to an inch in thickness, basal portion dis- 

 tinct, siibglobose, exserted lilanuMits about .03"" broad, attenuated at 

 base, obtuse at apex, cells of lower portion broader than long,becominj^ 

 longer in the upper portion ; parai)hyses recurved, clavate, subnionili- 

 forni; unilocular sporangia .07-8""" broad by .l.")-20'"'" long, pyrifonn or 

 obovate-rhombic. 



Common on Fnci along the whole coast. 



On submerged wood work, Eastport, Peak's Island, ]\Iaine. 



A common parasite, forming 8mall tufts on Faci. There seems to be but one species 

 on the coast of New Euf^laud, althou^xh E. hihrlca, Riipr., may bo expected on Hnlo- 

 tacfion. Accorilin«jj to Areschouj;, E. liibricadiA'vTA from E.fucicola in the shorter cells 

 and the decidedly elon;;ated base of the free tilaments, but in these respects Euro- 

 pean specimens of E. favicohi vary greatly. Possibly the form occurring on wood at 

 Ea.stport may be rather referred to E. luhrica. Rupreeht, in Phycologia Ochotensis, 

 mentions an Elachistea from Canada parasitic on Ilalosaccion, which he considers dis- 

 tinct from both E. lubrica and E. fiicicola, to which he gives the provisional name ot 

 E. canadenms. It is distinguished from E. fncicola **by the thicker filaments, which 

 never give oft' free branches at the base, by the dense, indistinctly filamentous structure 

 of the basal layer, and by the greater number of short filaments and few long filaments." 

 From Ruprecht's description it is hardly likely that the species will ever bo recog- 

 nized by American collectors. The views of Riiprecht with regard to «levelopiueut 

 in algaj are curiously shown in his remarks on Elachista, Myrionema, and Leathcma. 

 He thinks it very probable that the genera named were ''originally organs of fructiti- 

 cation of Ilalidrys, Cyntoscira, &c., which in course of time have not developed, and 

 have in this way formed what appear to bo stereotyped species." Although the fact 

 is not as Rupreeht supposed, this pronounced tendency to Darwinism is remarkable 

 when we think that Rupreeht Avrote in 18.50. 



MYRIACTIS, Kiitz., emend. 



(From fivpioc, countless, and cktic, a ray.) 



Fronds as in Elachifitea, but destitute of exserted colored filaments. 



A comparison of the two admirable plates oi ElachisUa scutulata and Elachiatea {My- 

 ^ iuctuf) pulrinata in the Etudes Phycologiques of Thuret and Bornet will give a clear 

 notion of the difference of the two genera. 



M. PUL\TNATA, Kiitz. Var. minor. {Elachistea pulvinata, Harv., in 

 Etudes Phycologiques, p. 18, PI. 1— Elachistea attenuafa, Ilarv., Phyc. 

 Bi-it, PI. 28.) 



Fronds forming minute tufts, basal portion slightly developed, giv- 

 ing off lateral fdaments, which penetrate the substratum; paraphyses 

 slightly cursed, fusiform, attenuated at base, somewhat moniliform; 

 cells .0075-180""" broad, two or three times as long ; jilurilocular spo- 

 rangia very numerous, clu.stered at the base of the paraphyses, cylindri- 



