OF THE CHARACE^E. 
107 
CHAPTER XI. 
OF THE CHAR ACEA2. 
The individuals grouped under the term Characeae have 1 
found a great difficulty in establishing a place in nature. 
They have been a kind of vegetable outcasts, 4 casuals/ 
without any special ward assigned to them ! The truth is, 
that while their organs of reproduction are those of a 
Cryptogam, their external form so nearly resembles that of 
many of the higher orders, that the earlier botanists may 
well be excused for having given them a habitation among 
the latter. The great Linnaeus ranged them in his class 
and order, Monoecia Monandria, removing them, strange to 
say, from a place which he had formerly given them, and 
which was much nearer to the truth, among the Crypto- 
gamia, not far from the Lichens. Jussieu, De Candolle, and 
Robert Brown retained them among the Phanerogamia ; 
Agardh and Wallroth referred them to the Algae. Only 
recent authors, Hooker, Lindley, &c., have allowed their 
claim to a separate order, and have fixed their identity as 
members of the Cryptogamic family. But even now the 
unfortunate Characeae are far from finding permanent rest,, 
being bandied about from one neighbourhood to another, 
from Algae to Fungi, and from Fungi to Lichens and Equi- 
setaceas. Without pretending to lay any claim to sys- 
tematic accuracy in this little work, I believe that we are 
adopting a right course in placing our troublesome proteges 
betAveen the Alg^ and Fungi ; their tubular stems recalling 
the former, while the spore-like bodies contained in the 
nucule seem to mark their affinity with the latter. Like 
many of the Algae, too, a large number of Charas are gifted 
with the power of encrusting their stems and branches 
