104 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



the manufacture of ornaments and curios. Laminaria, having a hollow stipe, are 

 used for knife handles as these seaweeds, when dry, are very hard, wrinkled, and 

 hornlike, yet attractive. The giant kelp, Macrocijstis ptjrifera, has been used in 

 the preparation of a hard substance resembling ebonite, or vulcanized fiber. In 

 making this material the salts are washed out and the kelp is highly compressed 

 and dried. 



A submarine plant known as Posidonia aiistralia, found on the southern coast 

 of South Australia, particularly in the Spencer and St. Vincent gulfs, contains a 

 valuable fiber which is adaptable for the manufacture of cloth, rope, twine, mats, 

 paper, and stuffing. Posidonia australia, like Zostera, is not a marine alga as it 

 has greenish flowers and fleshy fruit about the size of an olive. The commercially 

 important part of the plant is the fibrous remains of the leaf sheaths that cover 

 the base of the stem. These fibers are longer and finer than those of Posidonia 

 oceanica, the only other known species of the genus, which is found in the 

 Mediterranean and along the European Coast of the Atlantic. The quantity of the 

 fiber in the deposits on the South Australian coast is very large; in Moonta Bay 

 they cover many square miles and reach to a depth of 9 feet or more. The chief 

 difficulty in preparing the fiber is the separation of a large proportion of the 

 waste matter dug up with it. 



Various investigators have prepared the sugar, mannitol, from certain species of 

 Laminaria and have proposed using these seaweeds as the source of the manna 

 of commerce. Laminaria saccharina contains 12 to 15 per cent of this sugar and, 

 when used to make algin, mannitol is obtained as a by-product. In Kamchatka 

 the natives prepare an alcoholic drink from dulse ( Rhodymenia palmata ) . Other 

 unusual products that have been made from marine algae are duplicator rolls 

 and rubber compounds. 



REFERENCES 

 Anderson, E. O., Dowd, L. R., and Helmbolt, H., "Sodium Alginate as a Stabilizer for 



Ice Cream," Ice Cream Rev., 20, 88-91 (1937). 

 Andrews, H. L., "The Kelp Beds of the Monterey Region," Ecology, 26, 24-37 (1945). 

 Anon., "Seaweed Rayon and the Structure of Alginic Acid," Monthly Set. News, 49 



(1945). 

 Anon., "Algin at Work," New York, Booklet published by Kelco Company, 1948. 

 Anon., "Alginates for the Food Industry," Food Manufacture, 24, 357 (1949). 

 Atsuki, K., and Tomada, Y., "Studies on Seaweeds of Japan 1. The Chemical Constituents 



of Laminariii;' J. Soc. Chem. Ind. Japan, 29, 509-517 (1926). 

 Bannister, H. W., "Alginates for Water Softening," Chem. and Ind., 1944, 247. 

 Barry, V. C, "Preparation, Properties, and Mode of Preparation of Laminarin," Sci. Proc. 



Roy. Dublin Sac, 21, 615-622 (1938). 

 Barry, V. C, and Dillon, T., "Preparation of Alginic Acid and Its Constitution," Sci. 



Proc. Roy. Dublin Soc, 21, 285-287 (1936). 

 Bergy, G. A., "Sodium Alginate in Pharmacy," Am. Prof. Pharmacist, 5, 430-431, 494- 



495 (1939). 

 Briggs, S. E., "Sodium Alginate Products in Ice Cream and Chocolate Milk," State Coll. 



Wash. Inst. Dairying Proc, 85-90 (1936). 

 Cate, P. H., "Results Obtained with Sodium Alginate in Cold Water or Emulsion 



Paints," Am. Paint J., 22, 58, 60, 62 (1938). 

 Chapman, V. J., "The Kelp Trade," Nature, 155, 673-674 (1945). 

 Chase, F. M., "Useful Algae," Ann. Rept. Smithsonian Institution, 401-452 (1941). 



