58 • Vol. XLIII., Art. 1— K Yendo: 



our coasts. It may give some help to understand what has been 

 alluded to above. 



Economic Use of Alaria. 



The economic value of Alaria plants can not be spoken of as 

 great. In earlier times A. esculenta was eaten by the people of 

 Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Faeröese Islands and Denmark, Teener 

 writes in his Historia Fucorum, Vol. II, published in 1809 : — 

 '" This plant is much eaten in Scotland ; the parts employed for 

 that purpose are the midrib, stripped of its membrane, which is 

 extremely sweet, and the thick part of the pinnae, which are called 

 Keys. These latter, however, are only brought to market when 

 thick and fleshy, never when thin and membranous. It goes by 

 the name of Daherlochs. According to Lightfoot its proper season 

 is September ; and he also obser\'es, that it is recommended in 

 the disorder called a pica, to strengthen the stomach and restore 

 an appetite." In Algae Britanicae, published in 1830, Greville 

 says : — " The midrib of this plant, when stripped of the membrane, 

 and sometimes also the leaflets, are eaten in Ireland, Scotland, 

 Iceland, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands. It is called in Scotland 

 Badderhclis or Henware and in the Orkney Islands Honeyware. 

 Dr. Drummond informs me that in some parts of Ireland it bears 

 the name of Murllns.'" Peintz^) relates that A. esculenta and Rhody- 

 menia pahnata are two important food-algae in Iceland, where 

 they are cooked in milk or water with flour or groats added to 

 it. He speaks of the old Icelandic Saga in which these seaweeds 

 are mentioned. In Iceland the plant is called Bladtare or Butare. 



At the present time, the use of A. esculenta as food appears 



1) Pkintz : Licit om Tangc, ("Tidsskrift for vore Nyttiva-ktter, 1908). 



