10 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



sible for a floating body to move faster than the current does, and in a 

 direction differing from the set of the water. By every observation and 

 inquiry, which 1 have had an opportunity of making, no uniform current 

 has been found to exist capable of carrying the nodules in the direction 

 specified, and to parts of the ocean where they are found ; and no one, 

 I think, who has considered the subject, will contend that there can 

 be one capable of conveying them through a course of four or five 

 thousand miles, before the plants show symptoms of decay. In this 

 case, too, the most vigorous plants must be found on the northern verge 

 of this sea, and the most decayed ones toward its southern limits, which 

 is, indeed, directly contrary to fact ; for, in the latitude of eleven north, 

 we meet with slips which bear evident marks of being recently torn 

 from their parent stems, and the seed-vessels there are often unusually 

 fresh and flourishing ; while, on the northern borders, we sometimes find 

 them perishing, and even decayed ; neither of which cases could occur 

 if the plants floated southward. 



It is more reasonable to suppose that the plants grew nearly on the 

 spot over which they float ; that those which appear on the surface of 

 the water are only the heads or minor branches of others which flourish 

 beneath ; that they are broken off by the agitation of the ocean, or some 

 other accidental circumstance, perhaps by the buoyancy of the seed 

 vessels themselves, which, at a great depth, must be fully sufficient for 

 the purpose, as it enables them to float lightly even on the surface. 

 There the plant is exposed to the sun, the seed ripens, the pod burstSj 

 and the contents descend again to form new plants, while the old ones 

 decay and furnish manure, according to the established economy of 

 nature among vegetables, both terrestrial and aquatic. 



A great number of very minute Barnacles are found upon the leaves 

 and stalks. The seed-pod is usually enveloped in a sort of honeycomb 

 work, which may be taken from it, and, when examined by a lens, 

 resembles, in appearance, the net-work of a fly's eye. Its substance I 

 conjecture to be corraline. Among other inhabitants of the plant is 

 frequently a Viumber of small crabs, perfectly formed, and evidently 



