the leaf, from half an inch to an inch in width, and of various lengths 

 sometimes extending uninterruptedly throughout the frond, at other times 

 broken without order. Substance varying, according to the circumstances 

 under which the plant has been developed, from cartilaginous and coria- 

 ceous, which are most common, to delicately membranaceous. Colour of 

 the leaf a deep olive, now greenish, now brownish, clear, semitransparent 

 and glossy. As in all the Laminarice, new growth in the frond takes place 

 between the apex of the stem and base of the leaf, the upper portion of the 

 leaf continually dropping off after the new portion is developed. 



Every visitant of the sea-shore must be familiar with one 

 form or other of this common plant, which forms a belt, about 

 low-water mark, round all our rocky shores, where its long 

 ribbon-like fronds wave gracefully in the water. It is by no 

 means confined, however, within these limits, but grows in water 

 from five to ten fathoms deep, attached to shells and stones, 

 when rocks are not to be had. In such situations it often ac- 

 quires a very large size. The variety called by Agardh L. lati- 

 folia delights in deep water, especially in sheltered bays and 

 coves protected from the ocean by small islands. In many 

 such places on the west of Ireland and Scotland, where the 

 water is clear as crystal, the beautiful broad leaves of this 

 variety may be seen growing luxuriantly several fathoms below 

 the boat in which the observer is sailing over them. 



A species with a simple frond and very long stem (Z. longi- 

 cruris), in many respects resembling L. saccharina, but readily 

 distinguished by the stem becoming hollow, and increasing in 

 diameter upwards, abounds in the Northern Ocean, and should 

 be watched for on the shores of Orkney and Shetland. 



Fig. 1. Laminaria saccharina, a small specimen : — the natural size. 2. Thin 

 slice : — magnified. 



