6 THE ROLE OF ALGAE AND PLANKTON IN MEDICINE 



that seaweeds provide less than one per cent of the total vegetable food 

 of the Nipponese. 



Although scores of different seaweeds have been eaten in various 

 parts of the world, only a few have enjoyed truly widespread consump- 

 tion. 48 ' 49 Probably the most cosmopolitan seaweed, in geographical dis- 

 tribution and usage, has been the membranaceous Porpbyra, commonly 

 known as purple laver. The Chinese used it mainly as a base for soups. 

 Called Amanori in Japan, it was at one time considered one of the most 

 important food plants in that land, and was consumed chiefly as a salad. 

 It grew both naturally and under cultivation in surrounding waters; in 

 fact, the most famous grounds for cultivation of Porpbyra tenera were 

 in Tokyo Bay itself. The purple laver was also well known in the British 

 Isles and in France; it went by such diversified names as sloke, slouk, 

 slack, sloucawn, and marine sauce. Its preparation was also more varied 

 here. The Europeans not only used it as a salad, but they also fried it in 

 fat, or boiled it into a dark brown semi-fluid breakfast dish, or even 

 baked it into a laver bread. The British sometimes sealed the fresh plant 

 hermetically for use as a food by the crews of whaling vessels. In Alaska, 

 the use of Porpbyra as "sea lettuce" was common with the Indians. On 

 the Pacific coast, from Canada to Mexico, Porpbyra perforata was the only 

 local seaweed in common use. 



Green laver, or JJlva lactuca, was known to the Orientals as Wakone, 

 but was chiefly eaten in Scotland, either as a salad or as a soup. The 

 kelp Laminaria japonica was utilized primarily as a soup ingredient by 

 the Japanese (who called it Kombu) and by the Alaskan Indians. Dulse 

 (Rbodymenia palmata) , also variously designated as water leaf, sea kale, 

 dillisk, sol, and crannogh, was one of the favorite seaweed nutrients 

 in Scotland, Ireland, and the northeastern United States in the nineteenth 

 century. It was chewed fresh or after drying, or used as a flavoring, salad, 

 or relish. 



Outstanding among seaweeds finding a place in the cuisine were 

 those of the Gelidiaceae family. Gracilaria lichenoides, Gelidium corneum, 

 and other closely related species were the prime source of agar, familiarly 

 referred to as seaweed isenglass and kan ten ("cold weather"). The latter, 

 a pearly white, shiny, transparent, tasteless and odorless extract, was in- 

 troduced by the Chinese to Japan in 1662 A.D. It was consumed mainly 

 as a soup stock, summer jelly, dessert, or candy. Cbondrus crispus (Rhodo- 

 phyta) became highly popular in the production of jellies. This alga was 

 the source of Irish moss, also designated as carragheen, Dorset weed, 



