Historical reference: Do not rely on this information. It is very old. About this collection
Oscillatoriae, a group of blue-green algae, inhabiting fresh or salt waters, damp grounds, or hot springs, consisting of multicellular filaments in a mucilaginous sheathing often felted together in a scum. They derive their name from a complex system of spontaneous movements, the filament bending, rotating on its axis, and creeping backwards and forwards.