22 THE ROLE OF ALGAE AND PLANKTON IN MEDICINE 



gum. On the island of Grand Manon, off the coast of New Brunswick, 

 the reddish-purple leaves of dulse are still considered a great chewing 

 delicacy. 145 



Pliny the Elder (first century B.C.) considered seaweeds valuable as 

 dyes, as did the Roman ladies who used them for cosmetic purposes. They 

 availed themselves of a rouge extracted from the Fucus wracks (the word 

 Fucus is in fact derived from the Latin word for rouge.) Even today, a 

 similar extract mixed with fish oil is in vogue with Kamchatkan women 

 wanting to redden their cheeks. 146 



Since the seventeenth century, a seaweed glue called "funori" has 

 been derived by the Japanese from the red alga Gloiopeltis furcata. Its 

 main utility has been as an adhesive and as a sizing for paper, fiber, or 

 cloth. In Europe, "kelp" — the burnt ash of certain brown seaweeds — was 

 used in glazing pottery and manufacturing glass, as well as a source of 

 soda. 147 The production of "kelp" was a big industry for a whole century, 

 until the development of the saltpeter beds in Chile made it uneconomic. 



IV. PLANKTON 



A. Z OOPLANKTON 



As previously indicated, zooplankton is that 

 variety of plankton which consists of minute animal forms. 148 * 150 It is 

 collectible in a #2 bolting silk net, and it is thereby separable from the 

 main phytoplanktonic organisms (diatoms and dinoflagellates), which 

 pass readily through such a net. 



The chief components of zooplankton are the copepods, prawns or 

 krills, and fish eggs and larvae. 151 - 154 The most significant, in both bulk 

 and nutritional value, are usually the copepods, which feed on phy- 



