counting contiguous atoms

Here's a method for counting the largest number of contiguous X atoms (usually C) in a compound.

Code:

public static int countContiguous(Molecule mol, String element) {         int maxNumContiguous = 0;         boolean[] beenThere = new boolean[mol.getAtomCount()];         for (int atomIdx = 0; atomIdx < mol.getAtomCount(); atomIdx++) {             int numContiguous = 0;             MolAtom atom = mol.getAtom(atomIdx);             if (atom.getSymbol().equals(element) && !beenThere[atomIdx]) {                 numContiguous = countContiguous(mol, atomIdx, beenThere,                         element, 0);                 if (numContiguous > maxNumContiguous)                     maxNumContiguous = numContiguous;             } // if we did a new recursive search         } // for each atom in molecule         return maxNumContiguous;     } // countContiguous(Molecule, String)                 private static int countContiguous(Molecule mol, int atom0Idx,             boolean[] beenThere, String element, int numContiguous) {         beenThere[atom0Idx] = true;         numContiguous++;         MolAtom atom0 = mol.getAtom(atom0Idx);         for (int ligIdx = 0; ligIdx < atom0.getBondCount(); ligIdx++) {             MolAtom atom1 = (MolAtom) atom0.getLigand(ligIdx);             int atom1Idx = mol.indexOf(atom1);             if (atom1.getSymbol().equals(element) && !beenThere[atom1Idx])                 numContiguous = countContiguous(mol, atom1Idx, beenThere,                         element, numContiguous);         } // for each atom attached to atom0         return numContiguous;     } // countContiguous(Molecule, MolAtom, boolean[], String, int)