480 



Vinegar -plant. 



A gentleman obligingly brought to me, some weeks ago, a speci- 

 men, so called. It was about the size of a cheese-plate, and perhaps 

 half an inch in thickness, of a jelly-like appearance and consistency, 

 and had a very powerful smell of vinegar. The following queries 

 occur to me as worthy of notice : — 



Is this plant the Tremella Nostoc of old authors, Nostoc commune 

 of Harvey, &c., or what is its real name and order ? 



Is it generally, or even frequently, used in the manufacture of vine- 

 gar, and in what way does it assist in that operation ? 



Where is it found, or how is it cultivated ? 



The mention of this plant in the report of the proceedings of the 

 Edinburgh Botanical Society recalled it to my recollection. — Edward 

 Newman. 



I wish to make a few observations in answer to your three questions 

 relating to the vinegar-plant. First, that it is not Tremella Nostoc of 

 Linneus, for that author describes the species as plicate-undulate and 

 terrestrial. The plant which 1 have always taken for T. Nostoc, and 

 which answers to the description, is sometimes found upon commons 

 and other waste lands, in similar situations to Clavaria coralloides. It 

 appears about the latter end of September, is of a gelatinous substance, 

 from six inches to a foot in diameter, about an inch in thickness, of a 

 dirty-white colour, and a shape bearing a great resemblance to that 

 part of the entrails of a hog which is called the "crow." It is 

 widely distributed, but is not very fi-equently met with. Most old far- 

 mers, keepers, shepherds, &c., are acquainted with it under the name 

 of star-jelly, and have an idea that it is caused by a falling star; 

 and the explanation given to the word " Nostock" in Bayley's Dictio- 

 nary fully corresponds with that idea. It is so curious that I shall 

 here transcribe it: — " Nostock, stinking tawny jelly of a fallen planet, 

 or the nocturnal solution of some plethoretical and wanton star." I 

 am seldom out fern-collecting after the month of June ; therefore I 

 can give no locality for it near London ; but a friend of mine informs 

 me that he has seen it in several places in the county of Surrey, parti- 

 cularly Radmore Common, near Box Hill. Secondly, it has not, that 

 I am aware of, been ever used to any extent in the manufacture of 

 vinegar; but a piece of it put into a jar half fdled with water, and 

 placed in a warm temperature, will so acidulate the water, that it will 

 in a few weeks become tolerable vinegar. Thirdly, I am of opinion, 

 though perhaps erroneously, that it has a near affinity to the gelatinous 

 substance called " mother," which grows in vinegar, and particularly 



