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distinguished for its pungency, and the young stalks and fronds of Laminaria 

 digitata (the former called Pepperdulse, the latter Tangle), were often eaten in 

 Scotland ; and even now, though rarely, the old cry, ' Buy dulse and tangle,' 

 may be heard in the streets of Edinburgh. "When stripped of the thin part, 

 the beautiful Alalia esculenta forms a part of the simple fare of the poorer 

 classes of Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands. 



" To go further from home, we find the large Laminaria potatorum of Aus- 

 tralia furnishing the aborigines with a proportion of their ' instruments, vessels, 

 and food.' On the authority of Bory de St. Vincent, the Durvillea utilis and 

 other Laminariere constitute an equally important resource to the poor on the 

 west coast of South America. In Asia, several species of Gelidium are made 

 use of to render more palatable the hot and biting condiments of the East. 

 Some undetermined species of this genus also furnish the materials of which 

 the edible swallows' nests are composed. It is remarked by Lamouroux, that 

 three species of swallow construct edible nests, two of which build at a dis- 

 tance from the sea-coast, and use the sea-weed only as a cement for other 

 matters. The nests of the third are consequently most esteemed, and sold for 

 nearly their weight in gold. Gracillaria lichenoides is highly valued for food 

 in Ceylon and other parts of the East, and bears a great resemblance to Gra- 

 cillaria compressa, a species recently discovered on the British shores, and 

 which seems to be little inferior to it ; for my friend Mrs. Griffiths tried it as a 

 pickle and preserve, and in both ways found it excellent. 



" It is not to mankind alone that marine Algss have furnished luxuries, or re- 

 sources in times of scarcity. Several species are greedily sought after by cat- 

 tle, especially in the north of Europe. Rhodomela palmata is so great a fa- 

 vourite with sheep and goats, that Bishop Gunner named it Fucus ovinus. In 

 some of the Scottish islands, horses, cattle, and sheep, feed chiefly upon Fucus 

 vesiculosa during the winter months ; and in Gothland it is commonly given 

 to pigs. Fucus serratus also, and Chorda Filum, constitute a part of the fod- 

 der upon which the cattle are supported in Norway. 



M In medicine we are not altogether unindebted to the Algse. The Gigarti- 

 na helminthocorton, or Corsiean moss, as it is frequently called, is a native of 

 the Mediterranean, and held once a considerable reputation as a vermifuge. 

 The most important medical use, however (omitting minor ones), derived from 

 sea-weeds, is through the medium of Iodine, which may be obtained either 

 from the plants themselves, or from kelp. French kelp, according to Sir Hum- 

 phrey Davy, yields more Iodine than British ; and, from some recent experi- 

 ments made at the Cape of Good Hope by M. Ecklon, Laminaria buccinalis is 

 found to contain more than any European Alga;. Iodine is known to be a pow- 

 erful remedy in cases of goitre. The burnt sponge formerly administered in 

 similar cases, probably owed its efficacy to the Iodine it contained ; and it is 

 also a very curious fact, that the stems of a sea-weed are sold in the shops, and 

 chewed by the inhabitants of South America, wherever goitre is prevalent for 

 the same purpose. This remedy is termed by them Palo Coto (literally, goitre- 

 stick) ; and, from the fragments placed in my hands by my friend Dr. Gillies, 

 to whom I am indebted for this information, the plant certainly belongs to the 

 order LaminariesB, and is probably a species of Laminaria. 



li Were the Algse neither ' really serviceable either in supplying the wants 

 or in administering to the comforts of mankind' in any other respect, their cha- 

 racter would be redeemed by their usefulness in the arts ; and it is highly proba- 

 ble that we shall find ourselves eventually infinitely more indebted to them. 

 One species (and I regret to say that it is not a British one) is invaluable as a 

 glue and varnish to the Chinese. This is the Gracillaria tenax, the Fucus te- 

 nax of Turner's Historic Fucorum. Though a small plant, the quantity an- 

 nually imported at Canton from the provinces of Fokien and Tche-kiang is 



