USEFUL ALGAE — CHASE 421 



alone since children are particularly fond of it. In the Mediter- 

 ranean, it forms a common ingredient in soups. It is usually eaten 

 raw or dried as a sort of salad or relish. In the olden days, it is said 

 that some of the Scotch or Irish were addicted to chewing it before 

 tobacco and chewing gum became popular. 



It is natural that the peasants and the fishermen should use more 

 varieties of seaweed as their food than do the better classes in Japan 

 and China. 



MacCaughey (1916) has written an interesting account of the im- 

 portance of seaweed in the dietary of the Hawaiians. The ancient 

 Hawaiians considered seaweeds a necessary staple of their daily 

 food, and many present-day Hawaiians still consume it. The vil- 

 lages of Hawaii, like those of other parts of Polynesia, were usually 

 situated near the seashore. The Hawaiians were a maritime people 

 and very familiar with all the sea products, since the greater part 

 of the population was habitually engaged in fishing. The protracted 

 labor and hazard involved in the deep-sea fishing made it the work 

 of the men, but the women and the children as well as the men en- 

 joyed reef fishing. A wide variety of marine edibles including crabs, 

 crayfish, shrimps, moUusks, holothurians, sea-urchins, octopi, and 

 fish of many kinds were obtained from the lagoons and shallower 

 waters. The native limu, the Hawaiian name for seaweed, formed 

 an important element in these waters also. About 75 species of sea- 

 weed were used as food in this island world, and for each species the 

 Hawaiians had a specific name. In fact, Hawaii is noted for having 

 the largest variety of edible seaweeds in the world, although they 

 are poor in quantity as compared with those of Japan and other 

 parts of the world. 



The seaweed was collected in various ways according to the nature 

 of the habitat. Some species, such as Sargas&^imi and Grracilaria^ 

 drift ashore in abundance and were easily gathered. Other kinds, 

 growing in the quiet waters near the shore, such as ZJlva, ^Entero- 

 morpha and Chondria were readily collected by the older women 

 and the children. Those seaweeds with stout stems and holdfasts, 

 occupying the black lava rocks in rough waters where they were 

 continually pounded by the surf, could only be collected by the ex- 

 perienced swimmers, the men and the younger women. They used 

 a sharp stone or chisel to separate them from the rocks. Gelidium 

 and Porphyra are of this type. Still another type including Gynv- 

 nogongrus and Dictyota, grew on the outer edges of the reef where 

 the heavy rollers break. These were usually gathered by the men 

 in outrigger canoes. A few species, such as Porphyra laucostica, 

 occur only in restricted localities or during brief seasons, thereby 

 making them choice delicacies to be served only to the nobility, or 



