CONVERSATION XXX.

SEA-WEEDS.

'PAPA is come! papa is come ! '—was echoed, and re-echoed, by the little voices of Mary and Lucy;-while Charles and Harriet went with great pleasure, to meet an uncle they loved, almost as much as their own Father. Many questions were to be asked, and many wonderful things related by the young people, so that when dinner was announced, no one was satisfied with what he had heard or told to others.

'Papa, here is a dish of sloke; and, would you believe it, Lucy and I helped the old woman to gather it this morning; mamma allowed us to do so, while she sat on a rock, with Charles

and Harriet, talking about a steam boat, they saw on the sea.'

' And did mamma tell you what kind of plant sloke is, Mary?'

'No, papa, but she said she would tell us; and then you came, and we had no time.'

I think, before we speak of the sloke, said Mrs. Stewart, we shall bring all the specimens of sea-plants we have preserved, among which we shall find some sloke.'

O, papa, we had a great deal of pleasure in gathering these sea-plants; mamma, aunt Fanny, Harriet, and we all helped a little, to save them with thick soft paper.'

When the cloth was removed, the sea-plants were brought in.

'You have indeed collected a greater variety than I thought this shore produced, said Mr. Stewart; here is the beautiful fucus sanguineus, or blood

coloured fucus, in all its elegance of form and colouring; but I did not think you could find one so perfect at this time of year.'

6 No, uncle, this is the only sea-plant we did not find; Aunt Leslie had it, and gave it to increase our collection; she says she gathered it early in spring.'

'Here is another fucus, very unlike the former, called fucus visciculosus ;

it has one remarkable remarkable property, if broken or injured in any part, provided it be in a healthy and vegetating state, it constantly throws out abundance of young leaves from the injured part; even if a small aperture be made in the middle of it, a new leaf on either side will be found to shoot out; this is mentioned by Withering, and I have myself observed it.'

'Just like the crabs, papa; they get new claws, and mend old ones.'

'Here is a plant, uncle, which was of a pretty green colour when I gathered it, and now when dried it is black.'

'Yes, my dear, that is another fucus; but you might with care have kept some of its green colour. I have here a fucus, which is, I think, the "fucus saccharinus; " when washed in fresh water, and hung up in a warm place, a substance like sugar exudes from it; and sometimes it is eaten just as gathered off the shore. I find another fucus here, which has a peculiar smell; I dare say you observed it.'

"O yes, uncle; we all thought it smelled of violets.'

"That is called "fucus obtusus : look at the beautiful pink colour which tinges the branches, and observe the egg-shaped fructifications.'

'Do any animals feed on the fuci, uncle?'

Surely they do, Charles; many marine animals live on them entirely.

Well, my little Lucy, you want me to take you on my knee;-0, I see what you wish me to look at;-your nice necklace.'

Mrs. Jane made it for me, papa, of the lumps she cut off the sea-weed.' 'Do you know, my love, what these lumps are called?'

'I think they are bulbs, papa; mamma showed us bulbs;-things of that shape.'

6

Papa, here is some sloke on this paper; will you tell me, if you please, what kind of fucus it is.'

'That is not a fucus, my dear Mary; it is an ulva.'

'What is the difference between them, papa?

'I believe, my dear, I could not make you quite understand the difference between a fucus and an ulva: in general, I may tell you, that an ulva is a pellucid, that is, a partly transparent substance: for instance, look through this sloke;