52 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



wash it in fresh water. There are two factories in Norway where algae are chopped 

 and dried for preparation as stock feed. Seaweed that has been pulverized and 

 dried can be dialyzed in fresh water to remove excessive salt and then redried. 



Funori: Seaweed Glue and Sizing. The red alga, Gloiopeltis furcata Post and 

 Rupr,* is the basis for another important seaweed industry in Japan. "Fimori" is 

 the Japanese name apphed to the dried, partially fermented, bleached raw material 

 from which is obtained a viscous nongelling colloid that is completely soluble in 

 warm fresh water. It is widely used for a number of industrial purposes in Japan 

 although rarely seen outside the Orient. There are over 100 funori producers in 

 Japan, centering around Osaka, who prepare about $1,000,000 worth of the dry 

 seaweed annually. Actual extraction of the colloid is always done by the consumer 

 as the seaweed, when properly prepared, is almost 100 per cent soluble. 



Gloiopeltis grows on rocks in shallow water along the Pacific shores of Japan. 

 The collection procedure is similar to that used for Gelidium: Long-handled rakes 

 are manipulated from boats or divers gather the seaweed by hand. Collectors 

 sell crude, dry Gloiopeltis to factories where it is cleaned, sprinkled, and redried 

 on mats, and at the same time bleached. This treatment causes the plants to 

 stick together so that they form thin sheets which are easily rolled up after final 

 drying. The finished product is often marketed in rolls about 3 feet long and 

 6 inches in diameter. Processing of funori is done during the summer months, 

 coinciding with the collecting season. 



In addition to Gloiopeltis one or more species of the genera Irideae and 

 Chondrus are also used as funori raw material (Tseng, 1946). Processing of these 

 plants is similar to that of Gloiopeltis, but may involve steaming and soaking to 

 render them more pliant and to facilitate their dissolution when used. 



Funori is used instead of starch in laundering, as a sizing for paper and 

 fabrics, in the preparation of water-base paints, such as kalsomine, as an ad- 

 hesive, and as a hairdressing. 



In California Irideae flaccidum is a seaweed of potential economic value, pos- 

 sibly as a cold-mix stabilizer. Its extractive is very similar to Japanese funori. 

 According to Hassid (1933a, 1935, 1936) it is an ester of galactan involving 

 a sodium salt. In this respect and in its physical properties it resembles the sodium 

 carrageenate, "Viscarin," prepared artificially f by replacing the naturally oc- 

 curring calcium, potassium, and magnesium with sodium. 



The Irish Moss Industry 



The Irish moss industry of New England represents the oldest seaweed utiliza- 

 tion ejEorts in the United States. The earliest use of Irish moss (Chondrus crispus 

 [L.] Stack.) began in 1835 when Dr. J. V. C. Smith, a former mayor of Boston, 

 pointed out to his fellow citizens that Irish moss, which at that time cost $1 to $2 

 a pound as an import, grew in abundance along the rocky shores of Massachusetts 

 (Smith, 1905a). Moss harvesting promptly began at Scituate and that town has 



* Dr. E. Yale Dawson has pointed out (private communication) that Gloiopeltis 

 coliformis Harv. and G. intricata Suring. are now regarded by most authorities as one 

 species, G. furcata. Irideae laminarioides (Hassid, 1933) is probably Iridophycus flac- 

 cidum Setchell and Card., but since Irideae is proposed for conservation over Iridophycus, 

 it should be Irideae flaccidum ( Setchell and Gard. ) Dawson. The latter constitutes a new 

 combination. 



f Algin Corp. of America, 1949. 



