TTIE XL.VUIXE ALO.E OF (arEUNSEY 49 



Analyses dv Tuerentim: (Cameron). 

 Gelidiuiii corncKiit. 



Water 22-21) 



Protein 6*85 



Carbohydrates 60-32 



Ash 3-81 



Fibre 0-73 



LiiinliKO'iK s['p. 



Water 2282-24-44. 



Protein 549- 5-82 



Fat 1-52- -74 



Soluble non-nitrogenous 1 47-83 _45-57 



material J 



Fibre 4-55- 6-44 



Ash 18-G9-17-U0 



Of other substances found in seaweed, bromine occurs nioro 

 abundantly in Fucus serrcdm ; La miliaria cligHata, L. saccitariua, 

 and F. vesiculosus are richest in iodine, Saccorhiza hiilhosa contammg 

 somewhat less. It is not yet known whether this element is con- 

 tained in the form of alkaline salts or in organic combinations.^ 



PeiTot and Gatin state that minute quantities of arsenic have 

 been found in marine alga? : it is possible that the tonic properties 

 with which food or medicine prepared from seaweed is credited are 

 owing in some measure to the presence of this substance. 



The incrustations of calcareous alga? when produced in large 

 quantities have a manurial value. Along the west coast of Ireland 

 there are beaches composed of broken fragments of Lithothammons, 

 cartloads of which are conveyed inland for the sake of the carbonate 

 of lime as a soil-dressing (Cotton). In Guernsey it would be quite 

 possible to collect appreciable amounts of the calcareous alg« tor 

 agricultural purposes. 



For suggestions of what might be done with our seaweeds, 4 have 

 had recourse to Cameron's Ileport on the Fertilizer Ilesources of the 

 U.S. of America, 1944, from which the following particulars have 



been extracted : — , , p ^, • ^ i r 



Formerly the Americans imported the whole ot their potash tor 

 ao-riculture and other pm-poses ; they are now working up the re- 

 sources of their own counti-y, mineral and marine. A yield ot 

 S$!4G,000,000 worth of potash has already been obtained from seaweed, 

 and' by organization of the industry and regulation of the harvests 

 and preparation of the weeds, it is proposed to build up a recognized 

 source of wealth and industry for that nation. 41ecent experiments 

 have discounted the methods of drying and burning, whereby many 

 valuable constituents of the seaweed are lost or destroyed ; and the 



JOLTEX VL OF EOTA> Y, SEPTEMlJEli, 4920. [vSUPPLEMENT II. J 6 



