May 11. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
103 
two sittings brought out the best broods I bad last season. 
—William Thompson, Highgate, Kendal.'’ 
“ A friend of mine had a hen this season whose nest was 
made of loose straw, anl placed upon a lot of kids or 
faggots; and on examining the nest at feeding time one 
morning, he missed three eggs, for which he blamed the rats; 
however, to his consternation, on the following morning all 
the eggs were gone; and on removing the nest, the whole 
of them were discovered, unbroken, at the bottom of the 
heap of wood, and quite cold. He, therefore, made up the 
nest securely, and placed the eggs therein ; and after a few 
days prolonged hatching nine birds were brought out, and 
are alive—C. Pocklington, Boston." 
“ On the 35th of March, I set a small Cochin Pullet on 
seven eggs, she sat pretty well till the 28th, when, on going to 
feed her in the morning, I found the eggs perfectly cold, and 
i concluded that they were spoilt, but resolved to leave them, 
(in order to prove whether I had done right or wrong in 
putting fresh eggs under a hen who had served me the 
same trick a fortnight before); again, on the 1st of April, she 
allowed them to become cold, and so continued every two or 
j three days till the Uth, when I, of course, thought no hope 
remained ; she then sat pretty well, but on the morning that 
they ought to have been hatched not one was billed ; there¬ 
fore, I was agreeably surprised to find her yesterday morn¬ 
ing (April 10th), a day after time, in a high state of flustra- 
tion, keeping watch and ward over seven chickens, which are 
all strong and well. My motto will be for the future, 1 Nil 
desperandum.’ —H. S., Whitelull." 
SEA WEEDS. 
(Continued from page 40.) 
10. CRUORIA. Fries. 
“ Frond gelatinoso-coriaceous, forming a skin on the 
surface of rocks, composed of vertical, tufted, simple, 
articulated filaments, set in a firmly gelatinous matrix, one 
of the joints of each filament larger than the rest. Fructi¬ 
fication, tetraspores lying at the base of the filaments. 
Name from cruor, blood; because the plant looks like a 
blood-stain on the rock.”— Harvey. 
j 1. C. pellita. —Not uncommon; but few would ever 
think it is a plant; found often on the roots of Laminaria 
diyitata. 
17. NACCARIA. Endl. 
“Frond cylindrical, or compressed, filiform, solid, rose-red ; 
central cells large, empty; those of the surface minute. 
Ramuli composed of join ted, dichotomous, whorled filaments, 
surrounded by free gelatine. Fructification spores attached 
to the whorled filaments of the (swollen) ramuli. Name in 
honour of F. L. Naecari, an Italian Algologist.”— Harvey. 
1. N. Wigghii.— A rare and very pretty weed, from 
six to twelve inches high, of a tine rosy-red; the branches 
thickly set with smaller ones of minute filaments in whorls. 
18. GLOIOSIPHONIA. Carm. 
“ Frond cylindrical, tubular, gelatinous ; periphery com¬ 
posed ot a thin stratum of longitudinal interlaced fibres : 
clothed externally with short, horizontal branched, monili- 
form filaments. Fructification spherical masses of spores 
(favellidia), immersed in the moniliform filaments, to whose 
base they are attached ; the name signifies a viscid tube.”— 
Harvey. 
1. G. capili.aeis.— A very rare plant. I have had specimens 
from the Isle of Man, where it has been found by Miss 
Heslop ; also one specimen from Cornwall, and some from 
Scotland, found by Dr. Landsborougli on the Ayrshire 
coast, at Saltcoats, and Ardrossan. I shall copy what he 
says in his “ British Sea Weeds.” “ I observed it was in 
Saltcoats Bay at low-water, growing on shale. As I was 
in danger of being surrounded by the returning tide, I 
snatched io haste a small portion from a large patch, think¬ 
ing it was some common thing with rather an uncommon 
aspect. On floating it in fresh water, spreading it on paper, 
and exposing it to the sun, I was surprised to see it changing 
from a dull brownish-red to a fine dark crimson. One of my 
family, by wading into deep water, and catching the plants 
with his toes, got still finer specimens, which, being treated 
in the same manner, assumed even a richer hue. Its season 
is limited from the middle of June till the middle of July.” 
10. NEMALEON. Targioni. 
“ Frond cylindrical, glatinoso-cartilaginous, elastic, solid ; 
the axis columnar; dense, composed of closely packed 
longitudinal interlaced filaments, whose alternate ramuli 
are moniliform and coloured. Fructification globular masses 
of spores attached to the filaments of the periphery. The 
name signifies a crop of threads." 
1. N. mult ip id um .—Not uncommon ; growing on shells, 
See.., near low water mark. The fronds vary in height from 
three to six inches ; they are once, sometimes twice, forked; 
colour a pale purplish-brown. 
2. N. PURruitEUM.—This handsome weed is very rare ; the I 
fronds are sometimes two-and-a-lialf feet high, of a fine 
purple-red, and slippery; found at Sidmouth and Torbay, 
by Mrs. Griffiths and Miss Cutler; also very fine by Mrs. 
Gulson, at Exmouth. 
20. DUDRESNAIA. Bonnem. 
“Frond cylindrical, gelatinous, elastic; the axis is com¬ 
posed of a lax net work of anastomosing filaments, coated 
with a stratum of closely-combined longitudinal fibres; the 
periphery of horizontal, dichotomous, moniliform, filaments. 
Fructification of two kinds on difl'erent individuals:—1. 
Globular masses of spores (favellidia) attached to the 
filaments of the periphery ; 2. External tetraspores borne 
on the filaments of the periphery, generally terminating 
the ramuli. The name is in honour of M. Dudresnay.”— 
Harvey. 
1. D. coccinea. —Of a fine rosy-red; tender and much 
branched. It is very rare on the southern shores of England 
and Ireland. It has also been found in Scotland, at Arran, 
by Dr. Landsborough’s son, and at Belhaven, near Dunbar, 
by one of his daughters ; the branches have a moniliform or 
beaded appearance. It is a summer plant. 
2. D. Hudsoni. —This Dndresnaia is not rare like the 
last. It is very much branched, and slender; the colour a 
pale reddish-brown; very gelatinous and tender. Harvey 
says “ that the structure is very remarkable; the frond 
appeal’s to be made up of tufts of fibres radiating from a 
centre, each tuft, when separated in water under a glass, 
resembling a double Aster, or sea Anemone.” 
21. CROCEANIA. J. Ag. 
“ Frond gelatinous, filiform, consisting of a joined single- 
tubed filament, whose joints are clothed with dense whorls 
of minute multifid ramuli. Fructification, 1. Favellidia, 
sub-solitary near the apex of the ramuli, affixed to the base 
of the whorled ramuli and covered by them, containing 
within a hyaline marnbranaceous perispore, a sub-globose 
mass of minute spores. 2. Obovate tetraspores of large 
size affixed to the bases of the ramuli. Name in honour 
of brothers Crocean, of Brest.”— Harvey. 
1. C. attenuata. —A parasite from one to two inches 
high; growing on Cladosteplius spongiosus; very rare, of a 
red or purple colour, and all the branches resembling strings 
of small beads. 
This little plant brings us to the end of the largest order 
of Rhodosperms, whose beautiful puiple or rosy-coloured 
varieties of species are so widely dispersed.—S. B. 
{To be continued.) 
GUELDERLANDS AND OTHER ANOMALOUS 
POLANDS. 
1 have recently been paying some attention to the mi¬ 
nuter distinctions between the different breeds of poultry, 
especially as regards the structure of the skeleton. This I 
have done chiefly with a view to establish, if possible, a 
certain line of separation between the different varieties ; a 
point of no small importance at the present time, when a 
difference in colour, or a variation produced by crossing, is 
held by many to constitute a distinct breed. At present, 
