14 THE ROLE OF ALGAE AND PLANKTON IN MEDICINE 



and other gastrointestinal disturbances. The primitive Maori tribesmen, 

 living in close contact with their domestic animals, frequently acquired 

 their scabies; to treat this, they used Durvillea ("rimuroa"). The latter 

 was also fermented with an extract of the poisonous Tutu shrub to make 

 a cathartic. 



The Indians of Sitka, Alaska, devised an unique mechanical nostrum 

 for earache. Utilizing the tube-like character of the stipe of the bull 

 kelp, they placed the thin end in the victim's ear and the bulb on a hot 

 wet stone, thereby allowing steam to enter the afflicted external auditory 

 canal! South American Indians are reported to have valued Sargassum 

 baccifer to cure goiter and renal disorders, just as many other primitive 

 tribes considered bladderwrack helpful in inflammations, sprains, and 

 rheumatism. 



In the West, algae were exploited somewhat as in the Orient, but 

 to a much lesser extent. The Latin poets Virgil and Horace (first century 

 B.C.) held algae in very low esteem. Nevertheless the Romans must have 

 attributed to certain algae the property of healing sores; indeed the name 

 Conjervae (Class Chlorophyceae) derives directly from the Latin word 

 "confervere," meaning "to solder." In addition, Pliny recommended cer- 

 tain seaweeds for gout, which the Romans knew only too well. 



Discorides, a Greek physician of the first century A.D., recognized 

 absorbent properties in white or medicinal corraline, Muscus corralinus. 

 The powder from this alga was highly valued. It was prescribed as an 

 external absorbent for burns, skin abrasions, rashes, and scurvy; and as 

 an internal absorbent for chronic gastritis, heartburn, and diarrheas re- 

 sulting from hepatic and intestinal disorders. 



The American Indians, according to Chase, 43 did not believe in 

 the use of salt on food. It seems that the Iroquois, having occasionally 

 feasted on the white intruder, learned that he tasted saltier than the red 

 man. Since salt was "white man's style," they avoided using it, firm in the 

 belief that salt would make their hair turn gray and their toes turn up 

 before their time. However, by taking "sea lettuce" or laver each spring, 

 they supplied directly from nature the salt needs of their bodies. The 

 saline tastes of the Iroquois prior to Columbus' (or Leif Ericson's) visit 

 are not recorded. 



In cases of goiter and scrofula, ancient medical men were known to 

 prescribe calcine sponges, watercress, and similar substances which con- 

 densed and fixed marine elements. The Chinese Pentsao recommended all 

 the medicinal algae in goiter therapy. The fact that goiter is practically 



