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which have been, or are still employed in different parts 

 of the world, in the production of colouring matter. 

 This is the characteristic quality, more or less, of the 

 whole tribe. The whole world may be said to be an 

 open field ; in every clime, in every soil, at almost every 

 elevation, and in all seasons tinctorial species grow, and 

 even luxuriate. It is*a matter of surprise in this age 

 of scientific enterprise, considering the tendency every- 

 where exhibited to multiply the resources of our country, 

 and to find substitutes, in useless and neglected rubbish, 

 for expensive articles employed in the arts and manufac- 

 tures, that the attention of the commercial and manu- 

 facturing public has not been directed to the field of 

 inquiry and research, so promising in rich results, which 

 the dye-lichens present. "The fact that importers or 

 manufacturers," says an esteemed friend, " might find it 

 economical or remunerative to be supplied with substi- 

 tutes for the Roccellas, which are fast becoming scarce, 

 and consequently expensive, is the most limited view we 

 can take of the advantages of such an investigation. 

 Indirectly a multiplied trade in dye-lichens might scatter 

 the seeds of civilisation, and place the means of a com- 

 fortable subsistence at the command of the miserable 

 inhabitants of many a barren island or coast, at present 

 far removed from the great centres of social advance- 

 ment ; for the dye-lichens will probably be found luxu- 

 riantly where no other vegetation can thrive, frequently 

 attaining their highest degree of perfection on the most 

 bleak rocky coasts, or on elevated mountain ranges. It 

 is probable that many rocky isles in the broad Pacific 

 and Atlantic, many hundred miles of desolate sea-coast, 



