OSCILLATOR! ACE./E. 
101 
III. LYNGBYA, Ag. 
Filaments destitute of mucous layer, free, flexible, unbranched, elongated, not oscil- 
lating. Tube continuous, cylindrical, membranaceous ; endochrome green or purple, 
densely annulated, at length separating into lenticular sporidia. (Marine or in fresh 
water.) 
A genus consisting of many species, most of which are found in the sea ; several 
occur in estuaries of rivers and in brackish ditches, and a few are found in fresh water 
or in thermal springs. From Oscillatoria they are known by the absence of a gelatinous 
matrix and of oscillating movements, and by the greater flexibility of the filaments. 
From Calothrix , to which they are more nearly related, they differ chiefly in habit ; 
especially in the great length of the filaments, and in being rarely fasciculate. The 
generic name is given in honour of H. C. Lyngbye, a Danish Algologist, and author of 
an excellent work on the Algae of Denmark. 
1. Lyngbya majuscula , Harv. ; filaments thick, very long and tenacious, twisted, 
issuing in long, crisped bundles from a blackish green stratum. Harv. Phyc. 
Brit. t. 62. Kiitz. Sp. Alg. p. 283. Lyngbya crispa , Ag. Syst. p. 74 (in part.). 
Conf. majuscula , Dillw.! Supp. t. A. L. maxima , Mont. L. Pacifica , Kiitz. Sp. Alg. 
p. 284. (Tab. XLYII. A.) 
Hab. Long Island Sound, Professor Bailey. Peconic Bay, Mr. Hooper. Key West, 
W. H. H. and Mr. Ashmead. (v. v.) 
Tufts often several inches in diameter, the central portion densely interwoven or 
stratified, the margins throwing off long bundles or fascicles of free, crisped, or variously 
twisted filaments, one to two inches in length, and floating freely in the water. The 
strata at first are attached to the bottom, but with age float to the surface and are cast 
ashore in large masses. The diameter of the filament is greater than in any other 
species, being commonly rather more than ’05 of an inch. The Key West specimens are 
rather less broad than usual. The sheath or tube of the filament is thick, and forms a 
wide, hyaline margin to the dark-coloured, closely but not strongly annulated endochrome. 
The L. maxima , Mont. (L. pacfica, Kiitz .J which I have gathered in great abundance 
on the shores of the Friendly Islands, appears to me to be merely a luxuriant state of 
this common species. Except in the greater diameter of the filaments, and this varies 
in different specimens, I see no character by which it may be distinguished. The species 
(as understood in England) has a peculiar external habit, and its microscopic characters 
— however difficult to describe — are easily remembered after having once been seen. 
It was first found at Ban try, South of Ireland, by the late Miss Hutchins. 
Plate XLYII. A. Fig. 1. A tuft of Lyngbya majuscula , the natural size. Fig. 2. 
Portion- of a filament, magnified. 
