DoNKiN^ on Marine Diat07nace(B. 
13 
natural history have been studied by the labours of her native 
naturalists — her ornithology by the immortal Bewick^ and, 
more recently, by the accomplished Mr. Selby — her zoophy- 
tology by the late Dr. Johnston, and by Messrs. Alder and 
Hancock — no one yet had thought it worth his while to 
explore her springs, streams, lakes, subalpine tarns, and the 
waters of her extensive sea-board, in search of those micro- 
scopic beings, the Diatomacese ; beings on whose surfaces^ 
invisibly minute to the unaided vision of man, the omniscient 
hand of Creative Wisdom has found sufficient space to carve 
designs, so varied and elaborately beautiful, that their inves- 
tigation has become a pleasurable pursuit even to some of the 
most philosophic spirits of the present age. 
After some considerable investigation carried on amongst 
the fresh-water forms, which everywhere in this county 
abound, I became convinced of the accuracy of Professor 
Gregory^ s remark,^ to the effect, that those in search of new 
species belonging to this already extensive group, must 
procure his materials from the boundless waters of the ocean. 
This accurate suggestion I have followed, and have now to 
lay the result of my labours before this society. But before 
entering in medias res, a few brief remarks on the physical 
characters of this coast, and the manner in which I procured 
the objects of my research, may be novel and interesting to 
some of our members. 
The Northumbrian shore, extending from the Tyne to the 
Tweed, embraces a coast line of about seventy miles, washed 
by the waters of the German Ocean; it presents, in this 
wide range, attractions of the highest order to the tourist, the 
archeologist, and the naturalist. Here are the Farn Islands, 
the favourite resort of sea-fowl, and the scene of the heroic 
feat of Grace Darling. The Saxon monastery of St. Cuthbert, 
at Lindisfarne, fills the mind with poetical associations : 
" A solemn, huge, and dark-red pile, 
Placed on the margin of the isle ; 
Which could twelve hundred years withstand 
Wind, waves, and northern pirates' hand." 
Here, too, are the lofty towers of Bambrough — 
" King Ida's castle, huge and square, — " 
and the baronial castles of Dunstanborough and Warkworth, 
pointing, amidst their dismantled solitude, to bygone times 
* ' Trans. Micr. Soc.,' vol. v, p. 86. 
