Easiest of all maritime objects to collect are the so‐called “sea‐weeds,” which the Rev. J. G. Wood rightly terms a “miserable appellation,” to be employed under protest. They are in reality beautiful sea‐plants of oft‐ times delicate form and colour; and even the larger and commoner varieties have much of interest about them, some having actual uses. One of the first to strike the eye on almost any beach is the common bladder‐wrack (_Fucus vesiculosus_), that dark olive‐brown sea‐weed familiar to all visitors to our coasts. It is distinguished by its air‐vessels, which explode when trodden on or otherwise roughly compressed, and which are the delight of all youngsters at the sea‐side. This slimy and slippery weed makes rock‐walking perilous in a moderate degree, a fact which does not generally stop young British maidens and their companions from slipping about over its tangled masses. A larger species (_Fucus serratus_) sometimes grows to a length of six feet. It is used as manure, and even as food for cattle; while it is excellent to pack lobsters, crabs, &c., if they have to be sent inland. These and kindred _algæ_, the generic term for sea‐weed, are known as _Melanosperms_, or black‐seeded, so called from the dark olive tint of the seeds or spores from which they spring, and with which they abound. [Illustration: BLADDER WRACK. (_Fucus vesiculosus_.)] The best time for the collector who would reap a harvest is at spring‐ tides, when, Mr. Wood tells us, an hour or two’s careful investigation of the beach will sometimes produce as good results as several days’ hard work with the dredge. “It is better to go down to the shore about half an hour or so before the lowest tide, so as to follow the receding waters and to save time.” The naturalist or amateur collector then finds at these low tides a new set of vegetation, contrasting with the more delicate forms left higher on the beach, as forest‐trees with ferns and herbage. Huge plants, some of them measuring eleven feet in length, of the oar‐weed (_Laminaria digitata_), are lying about in profusion. It is known by its scientific name on account of the flat thin‐fingered fronds it bears. Its stem is used for handles to knives and other implements, so tough and strong is it. One good stem will furnish a dozen handles, and when dry it is as hard as horn. [Illustration: LAMINARIA.]