FISHERIES AND FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF PUGET SOUND. 373 



the melting-point of the jelly is too high to melt quickly in the mouth, hence gelatine 

 is still the favorite. The Chrondus crispus is found on the Atlantic coast and forms 

 one of the industries of Cape Cod; it is also found on the Pacific coast from Cape 

 Flattery to Alaska. 



The green and pink laver and dulse are common, and constitute an article of diet 

 of the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands and other tribes on the Northwest 

 coast, who prepare these seaweeds by drying and pressing them into compact blocks. 

 When required for food, these blocks are sliced with a sharp knife, then soaked in 

 fresh water and boiled. The alga; are not in general use among all the tribes of the 

 northwest coast, but they form a large article of food consumption in China and Japan. 



The taste for marine vegetables must be acquired, but those who have eaten of 

 them are said to become very fond of them, and some gentlemen in the Highlands of 

 Scotland, personally known to Mr. Stanford "as no mean judges of diet, consider a 

 dish of dulse boiled in milk the best of all vegetables." There is no doubt that a 

 valuable food is lost in entirely neglecting the algne. I have partaken of a meal of 

 dulse boiled with halibut by the Haida Indians while on Queen Charlotte Islands, in 

 1883, and I found it very palatable. In Alaska and British Columbia the deer are 

 fond of the sea mosses, and during the long run out of spring tides they eagerly 

 browse the marine vegetable. Cows and pigs also eagerly eat the Chrondus crisp us, 

 and it has long been used by white people under its name of Irish moss. 



The manufacture of seaweed. — The crude substance, which for many years made 

 the Highland estates so very valuable, was first manufactured from kelp as the prin- 

 cipal source of carbonate of soda. At the beginning of this century it realized from 

 $100 to $120 per ton, and the Hebrides alone produced 20,000 tons per annum. The 

 importation of barilla from the Mediterranean then began and the price fell in 1831 

 to $10 per ton. It was used, up to 1845, in the soap and glass works of Glasgow, until 

 it was entirely superseded by the soda process of Le Blanc. 



The manufacture of iodine and potash salts then began to assume some impor- 

 tance, but the kelp required was .not the same; that which contained the most soda 

 contained the least iodine and potash. Bromine is also extracted from kelp, but the 

 amount is small and is not considered worth extracting, as large quantities are now 

 produced in Germany and in this country from other sources. 



The amount of iodine in sea water is so minute that it is extremely difficult to 

 detect by ordinary tests, but the algre possess the power of assimilating the iodine 

 to about ten times the extent of the bromine. It is probable that all animal sub- 

 stances from the sea contain iodine; its presence has been very long known in cod- 

 liver oil, but it is very small; the liver itself contains double as much, and fresh cod 

 liver nicely fried has long been considered excellent in pulmonary complaints. 



Algin, a new gelatinous substance. — All the alga? are cellular and contain no fiber, 

 but properly treated they make a tough, transparent paper, which can be printed or 

 written upon, like parchment. Stanford thus explains his process of extracting this 

 substance : 



If the long fronds of the Lanrinaria stenophylla be observed after exposure to 

 rain, a tumid appearance will be noticed, and sacs of fluid are formed from the endo- 

 mosis of the water through the membrane, dissolving a peculiar glutinous principle. 

 If the sacs be cut, a neutral, glairy, colorless fluid escapes. It may often be seen 

 partially evaporated on the frond as a colorless jelly. This substance, which is insoluble 



