THE PAGE OF NATURE. Ill 



of lime to the bony structure of the more highly organized 

 animals. On account of this circumstance, some of the 

 crustaceous lichens are extensively employed in France 

 in the manufacture of oxalic acid ; and a considerable 

 proportion of what is now used in this country is derived 

 from this source. In London, various species of tree- 

 lichens are sold for the use of bird-stuffers, who line the 

 inside of their cases, and decorate the miniature trees 

 upon which the birds perch, with their shaggy leaves, so 

 as to give them a more picturesque and natural appear- 

 ance. The inhabitants of Smoland in Sweden are said 

 to scrape a peculiar species of yellow crustaceous lichen 

 from old pales, walls, and rocks, and mix it with their 

 tallow, to make the beautiful golden candles which they 

 burn on festival days. A wonderful race are these same 

 Smolanders. They are so remarkably industrious and 

 inventive, that they have given rise to a popular proverb 

 in Sweden, " Put a Smolander upon a roof, and he will 

 get a livelihood." " This character," says Frederika 

 Bremer, in her charming work, The Midnight Sun, " is 

 strangely imprinted on the remote forest-regions of the 

 country. The forest, which is the countryman's work- 

 shop, is his storehouse too. With the various lichens 

 that grow upon the trees and rocks, he cures the virulent 

 diseases with which he is sometimes afflicted, dyes the 

 articles of clothing which he wears, and poisons the 

 noxious and dangerous animals which annoy him. The 

 juniper and cranberry give him their berries, which he 

 brews into drink ; he makes a conserve of them, and 

 mixes their juices with his dry salt-meat, and is health- 

 ful and cheerful with these and with his labour, of which 

 he makes a pleasure." 



