28 
STUDIES OF BRITISH FRESHWATER ALGiE. 
Toulouse. In 1907 we published a paper ^ embodying a considerable 
number of observations on the occurrence and reproduction of 
Sjjirogyra in nature, in which material derived from the pond which 
forms the subject of the present communication was largely employed. 
Quite recently G. S. West^ has published an interesting and detailed 
paper on the Algse of the Yan Yean reservoir in Victoria, in which are 
embodied the results of a year’s periodical observations. The method 
of observation and of recording results adopted in this paper quite 
accords with that outlined in the “ Problems in algal biology ” in 1906.^ 
Studies in alg.al biology were first commenced by one of us about 
seven years ago, but it was only by degrees that the work shaped out 
and took a definite form. During this period a very large quantity of 
material has accumulated, but for one reason or another its investigation 
has progressed but slowly, so that there has been great delay in 
publication. Samples of Alga3 were first received from the Fish Pond, 
Abbot’s Leigh, in January, 1904, and from that time up to June, 1907, 
they were sent regularly almost every month ; since that time, 
however, they have come more intermittently, the last sample of 
the series being received in the autumn of lOOS."^ As far as we are 
aware, so systematic an investigation of the algal flora of a small pond 
has never yet been undertaken. We feel that a great deal of the 
credit for such results, as this work has afforded, is due to those who 
have so kindly furnished us with the necessary materials, and we desire 
to express our deep sense of obligation, first, to the late Mr. Brebner, 
to whom we owe the selection of so suitable a piece of water, and then 
to Mr. Hunter, and Mr. J. H. Priestley, B.Sc., who continued the 
arduous task of collecting the monthly samples. To Mr. Priestley we 
are also indebted for information concerning the character of the pond, 
and for certain meteorological data, and to Dr. Mill for valuable data 
on the rainfall of the Clifton district. Finally, we have to thank Mr. 
J. Salisbury, B.Sc., for the four photographs of the algal growth in the 
pond, which accompany this paper. 
At the commencement of these investigations a study of the 
periodicity of the algal flora was the sole object, but as sample after 
sample was examined it soon became apparent that this method of 
observation was going to cast valuable side-lights on the inter- 
relations of the different members of the algal flora, and on the 
conditions influencing reproduction. Indeed, as the series of samples 
increased, the perspective became ever wider, and now there are so 
1 F. E. Fritscli and F. Rich, Studies on the occurrence and reproduction of 
British Freshwater Algae in Nature. I. , Preliminary observations on SpirogyrcL 
Annals of Botany, Vol. xxi., 1907, p. 423 — 436. 
-G. S. West, The Algae of the Yan Yean reservoir. A biological and 
cecological study. Journ. Linn. Soc., Botany, Vol. xxxix, 1909, p. 1, et seq. 
^F. E. Fritsch, loc. cit. 
^ The actual dates on which the samples were collected are given in 
the temperature-table on p. 30. 
