Chapter the First. THE RED SNOW AND THE SLAAK UPON THE POND. I HAVE no doubt most of my young readers have, some time or other, paid a visit to the coast, and if so, they may have found amusement in picking up seaweeds, from the great heaps that lie upon the beach. They may, perhaps, have drawn out a long strip of leathery weed, almost like ribbon, but puckered at the edges, and with a kind of root at one end, that holds it fast to its native rock. Or they may have found the curious bladder wrack,* or else admired the pretty crimson tufts,† as delicate as feathers, that are thrown on shore by every tide. In these days, everybody is anxious to know something about seaweeds, and would like to find out their names, and the orders to which they belong. But this is quite a new thing; for some sixty or seventy years ago, the study was *Fucus Vesiculosus. † Dasya Coccinea. B laughed at, as both silly and useless. The seaweeds were treated with contempt, and looked upon as mere idle weeds, that did nobody any good, and on which it was never worth while to spend a moment's thought. And so these beautiful inhabitants of the sea were left to grow in their quiet depths, undisturbed and disregarded. But there is a story told of a student who was more enquiring than his fellows, and took the pains to collect a number of seaweeds in his rambles on the shore. He wished very much to know something about them, but had no books to refer to. At last a clever man, who professed to understand Botany, came to lecture in the neighbourhood, and the student went to hear him, carrying his bundle of seaweeds with him. After the lecture was over, he brought out his treasures, and humbly asked the Botanist if he could tell him their names. The Botanist put on his spectacles, and took just one look at the seaweeds; then turning away with disgust"Nonsense!" he exclaimed; "why, these are only a parcel of seaweeds; what can I possibly have to tell you about them ?” Now the seaweeds are very different to each other in form and colour, but they all belong to one great class, named the Algæ, from a latin word, which signifies coldness. They do not, however, all grow in the sea; some of them are found in ponds and ditches of fresh water, and others, still lower in the group, look like nothing more than spots or stains upon the ground, and go by the name of gory dew.* This gory dew is common in many places, and makes a curious patch of red or purple on the earth, as though wine had been spilt. During dry weather it disappears, but after a shower, it will spread out anew, and become a brilliant red, so bright, indeed, as to attract every body's notice. There is a meadow near Hastings, that always turns crimson after rain has fallen. The country people used to say it was because the battle of Hastings had been fought there, and that the earth was crying out for vengeance on account of the blood that had been shed. When the gory dew is examined through a microscope, it is found to consist of a number of globules, all growing together, and so small, that if taken separately, each one would be invisible to the naked eye; yet, minute as it is, every globule is perfect in itself, and contains a * Palmella. |