adheres, or the depth of water where it vegetates. It equally 

 infests the Fuci, which grow between tide-marks, covering with 

 a shaggy brown fleece those that occur near high-water mark, 

 and those that prefer a deeper level ; and the Laminarice that 

 are never exposed to the air. It thus extends nearly throughout 

 the whole belt occupied by sea plants. Nor is it confined to 

 open sea shores ; it frequents estuaries, and ascends tidal rivers 

 for a considerable distance, growing either on Fucus vesiculosus 

 or on submerged wood-work, and even on mud. Towards the 

 close of the summer the tufts become detached, and float about 

 in large masses, and at length are stranded in broad belts along 

 the coast. On these, decaying under the atmosphere, Captain 

 Carmichael first detected the curious Spliarozyga Carmichaelii 

 already figured in our first volume. (PI. CXIII.) 



I have no hesitation in uniting the E. compactm and F. ferrugi- 

 neus of Continental authors, with our F. litoralis. The characters 

 attributed to those forms depend on age, and are gradually as- 

 sumed as the plant passes its maturity and tends to decay. In 

 the first stage of its decline it frequently becomes much matted 

 into ropy strings, and thus becomes F. compadus ; and eventually 

 assumes a rusty colour, and becomes E. ferrugineus. 



Fig. 1. Tuft of Ectocarpus litoralis growing on a fragment of Fucus ser- 

 ratus : — of the natural size. 2. Part of a fertile branch. 3. Rainuli from 

 the same : — both magnified in different degrees. 



