IN T R O D U C T IO N .
I n preparing materials I’or this Work, it was my original intention
to do nothing more than give a faithful description of
tlie British inarticulated Algoe, and present the arrangement
of my excellent friend Professor A g a r d h , in an English dress.
In the course of my progress, however, it became necessary
to alter my plan. To account for this, it will be sufficient to
state, that, from a wish to render the work as accurate as
possible, a very considerable portion of time intervened between
the commencement o f the undertaking and the printing
of the first sheet. To accumulate materials, mostly by
persona] investigation, much of m y leisure during the last three
years has been devoted ; and though the result may appear to
be compressed into a small compass, the habits of m ost of the
species have been patiently watched on their native rocks,
and their progress from their first appearance to their perfect
state diligently marked. The structure also of the frond, and
the phenomena of fructification, have been rigidly examined
by means of the microscope, with a view to elucidate ordinal
and generic affinity, and sketches made of the several parts.
While thus occupied in verifying the discoveries of others,
or confirming my own observations, several individuals were
engaged in Algological researches on the Continent. Two
Essays, in particular, were published in France, the one by
M. G a i l l o n , forming the article Thcdassiophytes, in the Dictionnaire
des Sciences Naturelles—the other by M. Bouv d e
S t V in c e n t , in the Botanical part of D u p e r r e y ’s Voyage