CRYPTOGAMIA. S69 
ALGiE* 
LFCHEN. Barren, scattered warts . 
Fertile, smooth saucers or tubercles in which the seeds 
are imbedded. 
* (Descending in the scale of vegetable creation, we now proceed to consider the two 
grand divisions of the present Order, viz. the Lichens, properly so called, (vid. vol. i. 
p. 353.) and the Submersed Algae, comprehending the sea weeds, (vid. vol. i. p. 353,354.) 
The particular properties of each individual species, so far as our very imperfect know¬ 
ledge admits, will be found in the usual Notes; but on the general and combined result 
of the Lichens we may here further observe, that no sooner has a bed for vegetation 
been in the first instance prepared by the operation of atmospheric phenomena in the de¬ 
composition of rocks, than the seeds of these, to the common observer, obscure produc¬ 
tions, all but C( without form, and void,” ever floating in the air, make it their resting 
place. Their generations occupy it till a finely comminuted earth is formed, which be¬ 
comes capable of supporting the varied tribes of Mosses: acted upon by light and heat, 
these imbibe the dew, and convert the constituent parts of the air into nourishment. Their 
death and decay afford food for more perfect species of vegetables, (deposited by birds, or 
wafted by the waves of Ocean,) till at length a mould is formed, in which even the trees of 
the forest can fix their roots, and which is capable of rewarding the labours of the culti¬ 
vator. The successive steps by which even a common wall becomes covered with vegeta¬ 
tion, will illustrate this curious process. First may be perceived a green incrustation 
composed of the primary germination of various species of Polytricha , Brya , &c., and 
when this decays, a very thin stratum of vegetable earth is formed, which, by unceasing 
accumulation, in course of time forms a soil of sufficient depth for such diminutives as 
Draha verna, and other plants usually found in similar situations. However incompetent 
may be the finite conceptions of man fully to unravel or comprehend the ways of Provi¬ 
dence, either in the visible or invisible creation, every rational effort so to do must equally 
tend to excite sentiments of devotion and gratitude, as to suppress the presumptuous aspi¬ 
rations of pride and ignorance. These contrivances and manifestations, though to a cer¬ 
tain degree inexplicable, are sufficiently obvious to all but the “ brute unconscious gaze,” 
and render such pursuits not only desirable as tending to satisfy a rational curiosity, but 
an imperative duty; for “ to undervalue any thing which Infinite Wisdom has formed, is to 
overlook and contemn the Creator himself. Whatever God has thought proper to create, 
and to present to our view in the visible world, it becomes man to study and contemplate, 
that from thence he may derive motives to excite him to the exercise of reverence and ado¬ 
ration, of gratitude and praise.” “ The numberless astonishing instances of divine agency, 
which every where present themselves to our view in the scene around us, seem evidently 
intended to arrest the mind to a consideration of an “ ever present Deity and I envy 
not the sentiments or the feelings of that man who imagines, that he stands in no need of 
such sensible mediums, to impress his mind with a sense of the benevolent care and omni¬ 
presence of God.” (a) 
In the second division of this Order, we must advert to those singularly elegant pro¬ 
ductions of which we can form but a very inadequate idea from the comparatively few 
which are at low tides exposed to our observation on their native rocks, or occasionally 
presented to our view among the rejectamenta on the shore. Those who traverse the 
sea in ships, and “ occupy their business in the great waters,” do indeed “ see the works of 
the Lord, and his wonders in the deep ; ” even when he “ thunders in the excellency of 
his power:” but it remains for the scrutinizing eye of the philosopher to investigate 
more minutely these recesses of Ocean, wherein the last link in the chain of animated 
nature will be found to verge in mere vegetable existence; where the surface of the pro¬ 
found abyss exhibits interminable forests of Zoophytes, (or animated plants, as the term 
(a) Vid. an excellent work, by Mr. Thomas Dick, entitled “ The Christian Philoso¬ 
pher/’ Glasgow* 1828* 
