GO INTRODUCTION. 



of famine in their e3^es, and arc constantly exposed to so 

 many moral and political evils, while treasures of such whole- 

 some food thus lie scattered in the greatest profusion on 

 our shores ? 



In a commercial point of view, our British Sea-weeds rise 

 to national importance on account of kelji, which is made 

 from them, and which was much employed for many years in 

 the manufacture of soap and glass, though of late chiefly 

 valued on account of the iodine it yields. In the last part 

 of the Proceedings of the Glasgow Philosophical Society, 

 there is an excellent article by Mr. Glassford on the manu- 

 facture of kelp, from which my space will allow me to glean 

 much less than I could wish. The rise in price of kelp 

 about the beginning of the present century, from "^l. to 20/. 

 or 22/. per ton, caused the Highland proprietors to devote 

 much of their attention to the manufacture of kelp ; and not 

 only carefully to collect the Sea-weeds that the rocks yielded, 

 but to make artificial plantations in some cases for Sea- weeds, 

 by covering the beach visited by the tide, \vith large stones, 

 which soon bore a crop convertible into kelp. The supply 

 could scarcely keep pace with the demand ; the nunuifacture 

 was pushed to the farthest limit, and for years continued to 

 flourish. Barilla, however, from abroad entered the market, 



