SpharocGccoidea.'] hhodymenia. 247 



hence we have so many rivers in Scotland named EsJc, such 

 as North Esk and South Esk, i. e., North- Water, South- 

 Water. The Highlanders and Irish, as we have abeady 

 stated, were much in the habit, before tobacco became so 

 rife, of washing Dulse in fresh water, drying it in the sun, 

 rolling it up, and then chewing it as they now do tobacco. 

 How much better had it been for them had they stuck to 

 the use of the less nauseous, less filthy, less hurtful Dulse. 

 Indeed, instead of being hurtful, it is thought wholesome 

 and not unpleasant, especially when it is eaten fresh from 

 the sea, as is the case in the Lowlands. Dr. Greville 

 mentions that it is the true Saccharine Fucus of the Ice- 

 landers. According to Lightfoot, it is used medicinally in 

 the isle of Skye, to promote perspiration in fevers. In the 

 islands of the Archipelago, it is a favourite ingredient in 

 ragouts, to which it imparts a red colour, besides rendering 

 them of a thicker and richer consistence. The dried frond, 

 like many other Algse when infused in water, exhales an 

 odour resembling that of violets ; and Dr. Patrick Neill 

 mentions that it communicates that flavour to vegetables 

 with which it is mixed. 



RUoclymenia soholifera was long ranked as a distinct 

 species ; but Professor Harvey, in ' Phycologia Britannica,' 



