768 ALGAE. 
ing the colours used in calico printing. Carrageen is also used in the United 
States for fining beer, coffee, &c.—C. mamillosus or Gigartina mamillosa 
almost always occurs in the Carrageen Moss of commerce. Its properties 
are similar.—G. ucicularis is another species also sometimes found mixed 
with it. 
Durvillza utilis is used for food by the poorer inhabitants on the western 
coast of South America. 
Fucus.—Several species contain mannite, as F. vesiculosus, F. nodosus, 
and F. serratus. These species are used in the preparation of kelp, and are 
also collected for manure.—F, vesiculosus, Sea Wrack.—This Alga is much 
used in winter in certain islands of Scotland for feeding horses and cattle. 
Boiled in water and mixed with a little coarse meal or flour, it has been 
used in Gothland for feeding hogs, hence the plant is there called swine- 
tang. The expressed juice has been given internally, and frictions of the 
plant have been employed externally in glandular and scrofulous affections. 
A kind of wine prepared from this Alga has also been used with success in 
similar diseases. ‘The substance called Vegetable Ethiops, which has been 
likewise employed in such cases as the above, is a kind of charcoal produced 
by the incineration of this Alga in close vessels. The beneficial effects in 
these instances are principally due to the presence of a small quantity of 
iodine. This Alga has also, of late years, been in some repute as remedy 
for obesity, but its value for such a purpose seems to be but trifling. It is 
the essential constituent in the nostrum termed Anti-Fat. 
Gelidium corneum, as already noticed, is nutritive. It is the Algue de 
Java, from which M. Payen first obtained gelose. (See page 766.) It 
forms a favourite article of food in Japan, and other countries, and is also 
used in the manufacture of a kind of glue, and for other purposes. 
Gigartina spinosa (Fucus spinosus) is the Jelly Plant of Australia. It 
is employed for food and for making size, cement, &c. (See Chondrus and 
Gracilaria.) 
Gracilaria ( Plocaria).— G. lichenoides ( Plocaria candida), and G. confer- 
voides are the sources of the so-called Ceylon Moss, which is official in the 
Pharmacopeeia of India. _In most commercial specimens, however, the 
principal constituent is G. lichenoides. Ceylon Moss is nutritive, emollient, 
and demulcent, and may be employed in the form of a decoction or jelly, as 
food for children and invalids, and also medicinally, in pulmonary com- 
plaints, diarrhoea, and other affections. It is sometimes imported under the 
name of Agar-agar, but Gigartina spinosa has been also imported under the 
same name. Both species are largely employed in the Kast for making 
nutritious jellies, for stiffening purposes, and for varnishing.—G. tenav may 
be similarly used.— Gracilaria ( Plocaria) Helminthocorton is Corsican Moss. 
(See Laurencia.) It has been used principally as a vermifuge, but its pro- 
perties have been much overrated.—G. crassa (Ki-tsai) is cooked with soy 
or vinegar in China. It is also employed by the Chinese ladies to give a 
glossiness to their hair. 
~  Halidrys siliquosa contains nearly 6 per cent. of mannite. 
Hormosiphon arcticus (Nostoe arcticum), which is very common in the 
Arctic regions, according to Berkeley, affords a mass of wholesome food, 
which is far preferable to the Tripe de Roche (see Gyrophora, p. 762), as 
it has none of its b'tterness or purgative quality.’ 
Tridea edulis, as its name implies, is nutritious, and is sometimes used 
for food in Scotland, and other parts of the world. 
Laminaria.—L. saccharina is remarkable for the large quantity of man- 
nite it contains, upwards of 12 per cent. Its young parts, mixed with those 
of L. digitata, are eaten in Scotland, &c., under the name of Tangle. The 
latter species also contains much mannite. JL. saccharina is called Seatape 
in China, where it is used for food and other purposes.—JZ. potatorum is 
likewise employed for food in Australia, and other species possess similar 
