74 
LIFE HISTORY OF A FILIFORM ALGA. 
LIFE HISTORY OF A FILIFORM ALGA 
( (EDOGONIUM).* 
BY M. C. COOKE, M.A., A.L.S. 
Tlie subject selected for a short communication this 
evening is a somewhat commonplace one, and also one on 
which I do not pretend to have anything novel or sensational 
to say. All that I have set myself to do is to go over the 
history of a single species of Filamentous Algae such as is 
found in our ponds and ditches. 
At first I proposed to myself to give a general summary 
of Fresh-water Algae, but being convinced by experience 
that generalisation is a most unsatisfactory process both to 
speaker and hearers, I resolved to limit my illustrations as 
much as possible to one species, leaving that to stand as a 
type of the Thread-like Algae ; merely reminding you that 
other species and other genera, or families, will differ more 
or less, in different directions, even as one family of flowering 
plants differs from another. 
The object which I have in view may be briefly stated at 
the outset, and thus we shall come to understand each other, 
and perhaps avoid disappointment at the close. That object 
is simply to call your serious attention to those little-known 
aquatic plants which we call Fresh-water Alga3, and, if 
possible, give you a sufficient interest in them to stimulate 
enquiry and, it may be, awaken a desire to learn somethiug 
more. There is a notion which some people possess, that 
everything outside their own particular circle of knowledge 
is unworthy of their attention. This is at best a foolish 
notion, and I may take it for granted that your presence here 
to-night exonerates you from any participation in it. If I 
should err in treating the subject in too elementary a manner, 
I beg that you will not imagine that I deem it necessary for 
your sakes to follow such a course, but that I am trusting to 
your indulgence, for the sake of those outsiders who may 
read my remarks, in the hope of obtaining some information. 
I was out one early day in the summer on an excursion 
near the confines of Epping Forest, together with some 
kindred spirits, hunting in ponds and pools for living objects 
to furnish material for work witli the microscope. There are 
still numerous small pools or ponds left in that neighbourhood, 
* Transactions of the Birmingham Natural History and Micro¬ 
scopical Society. Read October 21st, 1884. 
