Ocean Gardens. The History of the Marine Aquarium / and the best methods now adopted for its establishment and preservation.

by Henry Noel Humphreys

In [Plate II.], the principal object, near the top of the Plate, is a bush of Callithamnion arbuscula, which receives its name from the tree-like aspect which it assumes more distinctly than any other of the marine Algæ. Behind it, to the right, are the tall and graceful forms, with their crimped edges, of the slender Laminaria phyllitis. And below, still to the right, is a branch of Codium tomentosum, distinguished by its light, vivid green, and the edging of delicate ciliæ, which have the appearance of a border of paler green, to every branchlet. Still to the right, in the extreme foreground, is a broken piece of rock on which plants of the curious Leathesia Berkleyi have grown, like convex kernels of bronze. To the left are the red-violet tufts of the Bangia fusco-purpurea, and behind them, a branch of Bryopsis plumosa.

Plate II.

1. Bangia fusco-purpurea.

2. Codium tomentosum.

3. Bryopsis plumosa.

4. Callithamnion arbuscula.

5. Leathesia Berkleyi.

6. Laminaria phyllitis.

In [Plate III.] the bright-green feathery plant in the extreme background is Ectocarpus siliculosus; and behind it, the violet, antler-like fronds of Nemaleon multifida. The large, gracefully-bending frond of rich purple, with narrower and younger fronds springing from the same root, is Porphyra vulgaris, one of the commonest, but most splendid of our marine Algæ, with which, in combination with other plants of suitable contrast, the vegetation of the Aquarium may be rendered truly splendid, if it once be successfully cultivated; of which I have no doubt, when its natural wants are sufficiently studied and ingeniously supplied. The splendidly-marked plant to the right, with its black maculations and richly-frilled edge, is Nitophyllum punctatum, one of our most splendid species; and the curious pale-buff, tubular plant in front of it, is Asperococcus Turneri. Near the foot of the Nitophyllum is a little tuft of the delicate Dumontia filiformis; and, to the extreme left, a branch of the brown-fronded Rytiphæa pinastris, which receives its specific name from the somewhat Pine-like growth it frequently assumes. Immediately beneath it, on the extreme right, is a little cluster of Chordaria divaricata; and below, in the left foreground, are a few pink fronds of the curious Alga, Chrysemenia rosea; while, in the foreground, to the right, on a detached pebble, is a small mass of the pale-crimson Peyssonetia Dubyi.