KEY TO TRIBES AND GENERA OF MELANOSPERMEiE. 169 



KEY to TRIBES and GENERA of MELANOSPERME^]. 



(Olive-green Seaweeds.) 



By Richard A. Bastow, Fitzroy, Victoria. 



(Communicated by J. H. Maiden, f.l.s.) 



[With Plate I.] 



[Read before the Royal Society of N. S. Wales, September 7, 1898.'] 



The study of Seaweeds found in the seas surrounding the Aus- 

 tralian Continent and adjacent islands is, at the present time, 

 beset with many difficulties. However invigorating and pleasant 

 it may be to stroll along the beach on a sunny day, and to collect 

 some beautiful species as they float to one's feet, it is unsatisfactory 

 to find that there are few books accessible in the libraries whereby 

 the plants may be identified. There does not appear to be a 

 complete copy of Harvey's " Nereis Australis," either in Victoria, 

 South Australia, or West Australia, at any rate the writer has 

 searched the public libraries in those three colonies in vain for 

 that work, unless the book which contains fifty plates only is to 

 be considered the complete work. Agardh's and Kuetzing's works 

 are in Latin and are therefore not as useful as if they were in 

 English. Consequently, it was thought advisable by the writer 

 (who has collected a fairly complete set of notes on the subject 

 from authorities far and wide), to construct a key whereby the 

 young student may find information in a very much easier manner 

 than hitherto possible. The result is the accompanying key which 

 presents the salient points of the genera of the Melanospermese 

 on one sheet ; it must be borne in mind however, that Melanos- 

 permese are only one of the three great divisions of Seaweeds. 

 The Floridese or Red Seaweeds, and the Chlorospermese or Grass- 

 green Seaweeds are not included in this key. The Melanospermese 

 are usually olive-brown or olive-green in colour, and sometimes 

 almost black, many of them being very large and coarse. The 



