328 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



such beautiful designs in colours incomparable for their 

 freshness and brilliancy. 



The second quality of this seaweed isinglass is of a 

 darker tint, and consists of the deposit in the basins in 

 which the cooking has been carried on. It is used, like the 

 liquid paste obtained from it, by makers of paper umbrellas 

 and parasols, and paper lanterns, to smear the fine 

 stretchers of bamboo on which they are formed. When 

 thoroughly dried, these articles of such extensive use 

 acquire an impermeability of long duration. But, unfor- 

 tunately, predatory insects are very fond of this size, and a 

 single night frequently suffices to destroy these articles, 

 exceedingly cheap and highly useful to all the Chinese. At 

 Canton, as at Yokohama and Osaka, we find transparent 

 sheets of gelatine made with this seaweed product, which 

 are superior to those of European manufacture, inasmuch 

 as they are not affected by the action of heat or moisture. 



The seaweed isinglass of Japan is a gelatine as light as 

 the pith of the elder. It has neither odour nor flavour. It 

 is made by macerating and boiling down different kinds of 

 seaweed, principally the Laminaria. The leaves are grated 

 with sharp cutting instruments, which cause the green 

 outer bark and saline particles to deposit. 



The seaweed is then boiled slowly for about 18 hours, 

 and the mass left to cool, when it looks like fish-glue. The 

 upper portion, which is the best quality, is turned out on 

 boards to dry. 



The gelose of commerce, or Japan isinglass, is also 

 obtained from Gelidium spiniforme, and is made in the form 

 of small sticks, transparent, but of a rough aspect. Steeped 

 in cold water, it swells considerably without dissolving. It 

 dissolves, on the contrary, readily in boiling water, and forms 

 a jelly on cooling. It is this property which has rendered 



