48 



LAMINARIA. 



nearly as possible at six hours after the high 

 tide the waters will have retired to their lowest 

 boundary, and near that boundary will be found 

 myriads of new forms, both animal and vegetable. 

 Indeed, so prolific is the spring-tide harvest, that 

 an hour or two of careful investigation will some- 

 times produce as good results as several hours' 

 hard work with a dredge. It is better to go 

 down to the shore about half an hour or so 

 before the lowest tide, so as to follow the reced- 

 ing waters, and to save time. 



When the naturalist has gained the spots below 

 the usual low-water mark, he will find himself in 

 the midst of a new set of vegetation, contrasting 

 as strongly with the productions of the higher 

 grounds, as forest trees with herbage and brush- 

 wood. Huge plants, measuring some eleven feet 

 or so in length, and nearly a yard in width, 

 are firmly anchored among the rocks by roots 

 rivalling in comparative size and strength those 

 of the oak-tree. This plant is commonly known 

 by the name of Oar -weed, and may be easily 

 recognised from the drawing in plate D, fig. 1. 

 Its scientific name is Laminaria digitata. It is 

 called "Laminaria" on account of the flat thin 

 plates, or laminae, of the frond, and " digitata," 

 or fingered, because the frond is split into 



