should, therefore, accompany them. I may conclude with à translation of the specific instructions of Mr. Coste, from whom, indeed, I have derived the hints above offered: "1. Very young fishes should be selected. "2. These fishes should be distributed among several receptacles. "3. Care should be taken not to crowd too many together in one receptacle. "4. The water should be renewed partially or entirely whenever it becomes necessary. "5. It should also be aerated from time to time. "6. The fishes should be fed whenever they shall seem to require it. "7. The remains from the food which has been given to the fishes shoula be carefully taken up from the bottom of the receptacle, and removed within eight hours after feeding; the dejections and other impurities which would injure the water should also be removed. "S. Finally, the several receptacles should be kept in different places, and under various conditions." MARINE PLANTS-THEIR USES, WITH A BRIEF BY G. HUBERT BATES, SCITUATE, MASSACHUSETTS. SEA-WEEDS, or marine algæ, are of the cryptogamic division of plants, flowerless, having their fructification concealed. They are cellular plants, found in the shallow parts of the sea all over the world, consisting of a brown, red, or green thallus, sometimes stalked, which bears the organs of fructification. These consist of antheridium cells, containing phytozoa, and of others containing germinating spores of different kinds. These organs of reproduction are often united in the same conceptacle. In other cases, they are on different parts of the same plants.* The spores sometimes have moving cilia, and are called zoospores; at other times, four are united, so as to constitute tetraspores, as in the plant Chondrus crispus, Irish moss. In some of the filamentous alge there is.a conjunction of two cells, so as to produce a spore; in others there is a fissiparous division of cells. Many of the lower alga approach so nearly to the lowest animal forms that the line of demarcation is formed with difficulty. Some authors give many Diatoms a place among the Algae, while others wholly reject them. There are three colors of alga-grass-green, olivaceous, and red. The order has been divided in the following manner: Sub-order 1. Melanospermeæ, or Fucacéæ, brown-colored sea-weeds; marine plants of an olive-green or olive-brown color, consisting of multi-cellular fronds, which assume a thalloid or filamentous form. The species of this sub-order best known and most valued on our coast are Laminaria digitata, called kelp, and Fucus nodosus, or pod rock-weed. Suborder 2. Rhodospermeæ, or Ceramiaceæ, rose-colored sea-weeds; marine plants of a rose-red, purple, or purplish-brown color; leafy, cylindrical, or filamentous. Chondrus crispus is an example. Sub-order 3. Chlorospermeæ or Confervaceæ, green-colored sea-weeds; uni-cellular or multi-cellular marine or fresh-water plants; the cells contain a green, rarely purple, or red endochrome. Ulva latissima is a well known species. Many of the marine algæ supply nutritious matter, and are used as food. Species of the Rhodomenia, (dulse,) Chondrus, (Irish moss,) Ulva, (sea lettuce,) Laminaria, (tangle,) Alaria, Iridæa, Porphyra, (laver,) and Gelidium, may be noticed. The edible nests formed by swallows in China have been supposed to be made of portions of gelatinous sea-weeds. Chondrus crispus and C. mammilosus receive the name of carrigeen or Irish moss. Their fronds consist, in great part, of a substance somewhat allied to starch, called bessaria, which is extracted by boiling in water. Rhodomenia palmata, the dulse of Scotland, dillisle of Ireland, and Saccharina fucus of Ireland, is consumed in considerable quantities in the north of Europe. Porphyra lacrimata and vulgaris are stewed and brought to the tables, as a luxury, under the name of laver. Ulva latissima, or green laver, is also used. Laurentia pinnatifida, which, from its pungency, is called pepper dulse, and the stalks and fronds of Laminaria digitata, called tangle by the Scotch and sea-girdle by the English, are eaten in Scotland; but at the present time the cry, "Buy dulse and tangle!" is rarely heard in the streets of Edinburgh. In the north of Europe marine algæ also contribute to the support of the cattle. Fucus vesiculosus, which contains mannite, a sweet substance, not a true sugar, is particularly relished by them, and they regularly repair to the rocks at low water to feed upon it. As many rock-weeders have perhaps observed, they also relish Laminaria saccharina, which contains twelve per cent. of mannite. In Ireland, Scotland, and the adjacent islands, an article called kelp was formerly largely manufactured by burning Laminaria, digitata, L. bulbosa, Fucus vesiculosus, F. nodosus, F. serratus, and perhaps some other varieties. Towards the latter part of the seventeenth century this business engaged the attention of nearly every inhabitant of the Shetland, Orkney, and Western islands. The noblemen and gentlemen of Scotland owning estates bordering on the sea were generally interested in its production. On portions of the shore where, from the absence of rocks, the plants did not exist, large stones were placed, spores distributed, and in a few months a luxuriant crop of Fuci obtained. The thousands of people engaged in the work were not subject to the discouragements of the farmer, for the fuci had no enemies, and the crop never failed. An account is given by Harvey, showing the rapid reproduction and growth of laminaria. In laying the foundation of a certain light-house, the workmen first cut away the tangle, and finally, in levelling down the rocks, removed every root. Upon the approach of winter the work was suspended, and was not resumed until some six months afterwards, when they were not a little surprised to find the rock again covered with a rank growth of laminaria. This shows the certainty and rapidity of their propagation by spores or seeds. During the years from 1790 to 1800 three thousand tons of kelp were sometimes made in Scotland in a single season. Kelp is an impure carbonate of soda. The barilla of Spain, manufactured near Alicant, from Salsola, (marshgrowing plants,) contains four times the amount of alkali found in the same quantity of British kelp. Kelp was principally used in the manufacture of glass and soap. From the lye of the ashes of marine plants, after the soda has been separated by crystallization, iodine may be procured by means of sulphuric acid. The value of many species of alge for manurial purposes is now pretty generally conceded, and great efforts are made by the farmers living near the sea to secure a share for their lands. The time for hauling this manure is after the occurrence of a heavy action of the sea, which detaches the rock-loving plants from the bottom and urges them, with the help of the usual easterly wind, upon the leeward shore. The deposit in the coves, where the beaches form angles, is often immense, amounting to many hundreds of cords. If the surf does not run too high, the ebbing tide leaves it in a convenient position for the teams which are always promptly on hand, some working night and day, as the tide may serve. The scene is extremely lively, the teams standing as thick as hacks around a depot, and passing and repassing with the greatest despatch of which they are capable, while the eagerness evinced by the owners in securing this fertilizer is the best possible testimony in its favor. Probably from one to two thousand cords are annually used by the farmers in this vicinity. Mr. E. P. Welch, with two light teams, lately hauled on to his lands, contiguous to the beach, over one hundred cords in five days, while a limited quantity is carried back many miles. Sea-manure is applied in a variety of ways. Probably the greater proportion is used as top-dressing for grass. This is done either during the fall and winter, or spring, there being advocates for each season, while every one applies it whenever it can be obtained. By some it is composted in the cattle-yard with good results; but those who turn it under at fall or spring ploughing undoubtedly secure the greatest amount of its fertilizing properties. In the application of seamanure a very marked effect is usually observed. It occasionally fails, however, as a top-dressing for grass; but this rarely occurs upon newly seeded fields. Ploughed in for corn, onions, and cabbage, excellent results are uniformly perceived. The following analysis will illustrate the manurial value of the various alga: In Ireland rock-weed is dried, and large loads are carried into the interior. Mr. Boardman, in an article on the Agriculture of Maine, in the Report of 1862, after remarking upon the beneficial effects of rock-weed as a fertilizer in the interior, observes that, "it would not be impossible to suppose that rock-weed, dried and pressed into bales, may hereafter become not only a reliable means of manuring land in the interior of the State, but an item of no small importance in a business point of view." If this were attempted, it would be necessary to gather the sea tangle in boats, as is done in Great Britain in the manufacture of kelp, and cure it during the fine weather of summer; for the storms which wash the deep-water alga ashore, occur in portions of the year unfavorable for haymaking. Rock-weed, when deposited in any considerable quantity, soon begins to decompose, larvæ abound in it, even in very cold weather, and an odor arises which is far from being pleasant. I can but conclude that much of its value escapes by allowing it to remain some time in heaps, as many do. The cellular tissue of sea-weeds is very hygroscopic. If dried, and then exposed to rain, it takes up the water very rapidly. Some of the different species of laminaria have been used as hygrometers. The farmer who places dried rockweed upon his fields, what, at the time, appears like a moderate quantity, upon the occurrence of rain is surprised at the liberality of the application. CARRIGEEN OR IRISH MOSS (CHONDRUS CRISPUS.) Sub-order: Rhodospermeæ, family Spongiocarpeæ.-Harvey. The generic name, Chondrus, is characteristic of the substance of the frond, being derived from the Greek word signifying cartilage. Habitat: Rocks in the sea. Perennial; spring. Root: a disk throwing up tufts of many fronds, which are from two to twelve inches high, very narrow and sub-cylindrical at base, but immediately becoming flat, generally dilating from the base till it becomes three or four lines wide, and then dividing repeatedly and dichotomously, (by pairs,) each division spreading, becoming narrower than the preceding one, and taking place at shorter intervals. The summits are bifid, the segments varying greatly in length, rounded or acute, straight or curved, and often twisted in such a manner as to give the curled appearance denoted by the specific name, crispus. "Fructification roundish or roundish-oval, sub-hemispherical capsules imbedded in the disk of the frond, prominent on one side and producing a concavity on the other, containing a mass of minute, roundish, red seeds." Its color is a deep purple-brown, often tinged with purplish red, paler at the summit, and becoming greenish and at length yellowish-white, as the season advances. This is the proteus of marine algæ. The varieties are innumerable, and pass into one another so insensibly that it is almost impossible to define them. There is great range in regard to the width of the frond. Whenever the plant grows more or less exposed to fresh water, a still greater change is wrought in its appearance. The main divisions are much broader, fewer, and exceedingly irreg ular, while the margin and extremity are beset with such a vast number of small segments that the whole suggests the idea of monstrosity. In such specimens the frond, when held between the eye and the light, is thinner, more transparent, and frequently mottled with green. It occasionally happens that the margin is somewhat raised, so as to render the frond slightly channelled, but seldom so much as to allow of its being mistaken for C. mammilosus. The pink seeds are very conspicuous when held between the eye and light. When fully ripe, the capsules fall away entirely, and leave the frond full of holes. Greeville concludes his admirable description-parts of which are included in the above-by remarking that "it is difficult, in words, to convey any idea of the variableness of this species." The varied uses of carrigeen in manufactures make it an article of considerable importance; and the present high prices of glue and isinglass, for which it is an excellent substitute, have created a demand for it heretofore unknown. Up to about the year 1848 all the carrigeen consumed in this country was imported from Ireland, which gave it the popular name of Irish moss. It was collected on the southern and western shores of that island, and was converted into size for house painters, and also esteemed for medicinal and culinary purposes. That imported to America was used in making custards and blanc-mange, and sometimes sold as high as seventy-five cents per pound, retail. In 1849 several parties commenced making a business of gathering and curing Chondrus crispus at Scituate, Plymouth county, Massachusetts, and produced the first considerable quantity of the domestic article ever sold in Boston. This is still the only point in the States where any noticeable amount is collected, the business having lately been largely increased, until the annual crop is not far from 500,000 poundsequal to about 6,000 barrels. ITS RANGE. Some sea-weeds are cosmopolitan, and are equally abundant in all latitudes; but generally alge are more or less local in their distribution, and different marine floras are found in the different parts of the ocean. The degree of exposure to light, and the greater or less motion of the sea, have an important effect. The green algae occur either in the shallower parts of the sea or in fresh water; the olive-color is characteristic of those sea-weeds that abound between the tidemarks; while the red-colored species grow in the deeper and darker parts of the ocean. The sub-order Rhodospermeæ, in which Harvey classes the Chondrus crispus, seem to flourish in the temperate zone, while Chlorospermeæ increase as we pass northward, and Melanospermeæ towards the tropics. But while Chondrus crispus appears, under certain conditions, to abound in the temperate zone, it is generally incrusted with various minute mollusca, that causes its rejection by the dealers. The rocks on the shores of Scituate, in the main, undoubtedly produce the best article yet discovered in this country. But there are ledges here, where the muscle attaches to the plant, that are wholly abandoned by the mossers. Indeed, the range of the clean-growing Chondrus seems to be very limited. It has been remarked by those who have visited Cape Ann and the eastern shore for the purpose of testing the quality of the moss growing there, that the product of those parts is of a coarse and limy character. Perhaps, however, this moss, in some instançes, may be susceptible of improvement. The old plants should first be entirely removed, which would be immediately succeeded by a new growth; and if this exhibits a marked superiority over the old plants much may be expected of the ledge, for each successive "pull" will produce an improvement in the moss. That the abundant moss growing to the eastward has not been fairly subjected to this test, and the improved article brought into market, indicates either a want of knowledge of the necessary process of improving, or the absence of those whose habits would naturally lead them to engage in the business; or it may be that the plant in that quarter is not susceptible of any improvement, as the report goes. As regards perpendicular direction, Forbes remarks that one great marine belt or zone lies between high and low-water marks, and varies in species according to the kind of coast, but exhibits similar phenomena throughout the northern hemisphere. This is denominated the littoral zone, and necessarily varies according to the rise and fall of the tides. If I am right in my identification, the Fucus canaliculatus forms the upper sub-region of this zone, followed by a broad belt of F. nodosus and, perhaps, F. versiculosus and F. serratus. This is succeeded by a narrow belt of Chondrus crispus, interspersed with Rhodomenia palmata and Laminaria saccharina, which is exposed only at low ebbs. The Chondrus crispus, however, extends some distance below low-water mark in to the laminarian zone, its fronds increasing in width as the water becomes deeper. The laminarian zone extends to a depth of from seven to fifteen fathoms. Here the great sea tangle, Laminaria digitata-improperly called kelp-abounds. GATHERING AND CURING. The mossers begin the "pull" of moss late on the spring tide of the full moon of May. This is earlier than it should be, for moss, like the grass in our pas tures, attains but a feeble growth in the month of May. This prematurely-gath ered moss suffers a great loss by shrinkage, and cannot be made to "hold its color" when bleached. This practice is probably owing to the restlessness of |