1:he alg^ of strensall commoj^. 



By W. Barwell Turner, F.C.S., F.B.M.S., &c. 

 PLATE VI L 



When I paid a visit to Strensall with the Y.N.U. on July 14th last> 

 it happened that I was the only collector of aquatic algae. The 

 amount of material collected was, unfortunately, then but small, as 

 I only had three small bottles and two little tubes, and I soon found 

 that they were very inadequate to my wants. It is a matter for regret 

 that more gatherings were not then secured, as our visit took place 

 after a short period of dry weather ; and the pools v/ere in better order 

 (our brethren of the net and bottle will understand this), than they 

 had been for some time. On arrival at Leeds, I arranged for a 

 thorough examination of my plants, and soon succeeded in making out 

 a tolerable list ; but, during my work, I found that I came across 

 numbers of things either unknown to me or very puzzling, so I was 

 fain to seek assistance. My first thought was of Dr. M. C. Cooke, to 

 whom I wrote, but was sorry to find him suffering from ill health and over 

 work ; so in my dilemma, I was very grateful to find a helping hand in 

 my friend Mr. A. W. Wills, of Birmingham, who is a well-known 

 authority on the subject, and who kindly gave me the benefit of his 

 assistance with the Desmidiese. After working some time, it became 

 apparent that our material was not adequate to a thorough investigation, 

 so, at Mr. Wills' request, I went again to Strensall on July 29th, 

 when I was able to secure a larger collection, but found the place in 

 very poor condition for w^ork, as heavy rains had intervened. One 

 accident occurred with (to me) deplorable results, with respect to my 

 first gathering — I had worked over part thereof, and wished to have a 

 clean bottle handy for transferring, so- emptied one for the purpose, 

 when to my amazement and disgust I found I had thrown away the 

 contents of a bottle I had not thoroughly examined, and with it my 

 chance of positively being assured of the existence of two rare species, 

 specimens of which I had already found in the said bottle, and had 

 sketched them by way of note. For the latter I am thankful, as, 

 although my second journey was productive of sundry novelties, I did 

 not again find the forms alluded to, viz : — Haiiradi'im PrmgsJieimii 

 and S. anatinmn ; also the form which I believe to be 8. megacantJium. 

 I have accordingly entered these in my list, with a query attached to 

 them. 



N.S., Vol. ix. Dec, 1883. 



