TfiE TROPICAL AaRICULTUEIST. 
[Jan. 1, 19t)3. 
veloped into raciness. Each subject, which 
he referred to was beautifully illustrated by 
a powerful lantern, find the revelations of 
the wonders of the deep, thus afforded the 
audience-repaired for their presence. 
The lecturer was briefly introduced by Dr the 
Hon. A J Chalmers to the audience, among 
whom were the Hon Mr G M Fowler, Mr and 
Mrs. E E Green, Mr and Mrs Wackrill, Mr and 
Mrs. F Lewis, Mr. J Ferguson, Mr. and Mrs. 
F C Roles, Mr Cottle, the Hon. Mr. and Mrs. 
F A Cooper, Mr. C D Vigors, Dr. and Mrs. 
W H de Silva and Mr. W H Davies. 
The synopsis of the lecturer provided to 
those present and which gives a fair idea 
of the lines taken by Mr. Oarruthers was 
as follows :— 
SnAWEEDS, or, to use their Latin and scientific 
name, Algse, are of interest from many points of 
view. They are, in nearly all cases, tilings of 
beauty both in form and colour; they are of jjreat 
economic importance as the basis of the nutrition 
of marine animal life ; and they are in their struc- 
ture and life-history among the most interesting 
of organisms that scie.ni e iiivestigates. 
Colour, whicli is not available as a character 
•for grouping other large classes of plants, coin- 
cides in the ca&e of aSgte^with the natural classi- 
fication — 
Ked seaweeds, or Rhodophycece. 
Brown seaweeds, or Phccophycere. 
Green seaweeds, or Chloropiiycese. 
Blue-green seaweeds, or Cyanophycea; . 
These primary divisions of algce show also the 
distribution of the plants they include with regard 
to the depth of the sea where they are found. 
The green alstos are seen, as a rule, near to shore 
'and at no distance from the surface ; lower down 
we find the brown forms, and the red seaweeds 
occur at the greatest depths. 
Light is essential to the life of algaj. At a depth 
of about three-quarters of a mile thare is total 
darkness, and consequently no living seaweeds ; 
but at a much less depth, not one-quarter of a 
mile, the light is of such a kind that the plants 
cannot grow, The most numerous alg» are those 
which from their size and habit are the most diffi- 
cult to observe, i.e , the free-floating or pelagic 
forma. These are not anchored to rocks, stones, 
ships' bottoms, &c,, like the better known and 
larger seaweeds, but live in great quantities in the 
upper layers ot water away from land, in some 
cases giving a green or red colour to lakes. They 
are of microscopic dimensions, and are usually 
"captured by pumping sea water throusrh fine silk 
gauze, when tliey remain as a scum, and can be 
placed for examination under the microscope. 
Many have hard, siliceous shells, the Diatoms, of 
'which some 10,000 species are known, having in 
past ages formed the immense chalk beds. Tlie 
continuous rain of dead shells which falls down to 
the bottom of the sea as these small organisms 
die, make the diatomaceous ooze, or deposit, 
which in the course of time becomes a hard 
Btratum. 
Algaj are perhaps easier to identify than other 
groups of plants; they are dried and preserved 
with very little trouble. The collection and study 
of seaweeds is therefore attractive and easy for 
the amateur, and in Ceylon will be sure to repay 
any time spent on them. 
The lecturer concluded by remarking— I 
only hope these few remarks I have made 
may induce some people to find out for 
themselves a good deal more than I am capable 
of telling you about sea-weeds, and I can assure 
anyone at all who has been about the subject 
that it would repay them, were they to 
take up this subjec^. I should be very glad 
to see any such up at Peradeniya where 
we have quite a respectable collection of sea- 
weeds—many of which, I regret to say, are 
still unnamed. I can only add that I shall 
be quite satisfied if from this lecture every 
one is bitten with the love for sea-weeds. 
(Applause.) 
The Hon. Mr G M Fowler— in proposing a 
vote of thanks to the lecturer said, I was 
quite unprepared to be called on to pro- 
pose a vote of thanks to the lecturer for his 
inost interesting lecture, but have now the 
greatest pleasure in doing so. I am sori-y 
to say I arrived so late that 1 did not hear 
his introductory remarks, but the remainder 
— I really forget now at what stage I 
entered — (laughter)— was most iuterf>sting. 
I am sure all of you are most interested 
in what you have heard and I hope there 
are a good many here who will profit by 
what we have heard and extend their re- 
search in that direction. I was rather 
startled by recognising a certain sea-weed 
on the screen which I thought had not 
been yet discovered. I came across it many 
years ago in Mannar and I treasured it. 
Tonight I heard it described as one of the 
many common sea weeds. (Laughter), Ex- 
cuse this personal reminiscence, but it is only 
one instance. I am sure I am expressing 
the sentiments of all present in thanking 
Mr Carruthers most heartily for his interest- 
ing lecture. (Applause). 
» . 
INDI.4.N AND CEYLON TEA SHARE 
VALUES. 
From the following figures, compiled, as usual, by 
Mr George S-ton, of the Indian Tea Share Exchange, 
120, Bishopsgate-street, E.G., it will be seen that the 
market value of the shaies of 45 representative com- 
panies, registered in this country, has again risen 
slightly during October, and now shows an advance of 
£175,000 from the lowest point touched on 1st Sept. 
The rise is pretty well distributed all along the line. 
Face value of 45 Companies ... £9,5oo.ooo 
Market value 1st July, 1897 (highest point) £12,ooo,ooo 
Do 1st Jan., 1902 £7,ooo ooo 
Do 1st July 1902 (corrected £6,225,ooo 
Do 1st Aug., 1902 £6,125,000 
Do 1st Sept., 1902 (lowest point) £6,o5o.ooo 
Do 1st Oct., 1902 ^6,1.^0,000 
Do 1st Nov., 1902 £6,225,000 
As the total share and debenture capital of about 170 
of such Companies, registered in the United Kingdom, 
With sterling capital, amounts to nearly £) 9,000,000, 
the flaotuation of the whole, based on the above 
figures, may be estimated as follows : — 
Face value of about 170 sterling Cos. £19,000,000 
Highest value, 1st July, 1897 ... £24,000 000 
Lowest value, l?t Sept., 1902 .. £12,loo,ooo 
Present market value ... £12,45o,O0O 
or still a depreciation of £ll,55o,ooo ; or about 48 per 
cent, from the highest point. 
Even these augmented figures, it may be observed, 
take no account of either the privately-owned estates 
nor of the Calcutta, Madras and Colombo Companies, 
with rupee capital, in which the depreciation has fre 
quently beeu still greater, Mr Seton adda, aa a ri^^ 
