tl3 



SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part II. 



tlons they affect for the most part the 8ame sort of situations as the mosses, being found chiefly In wet 

 and s'hady snots, by the sides of springs and ditches, or on the shelving brinks of rivulets, or on the trunks 

 of trees. Like the mosses, they thrive best also in cold and damp weather, and recover their verdure 

 thoughdried,ifmoistenedagain with water. ^, . j i * u * i 



1306 The also;, or sea-weeds, include not merely manne and many other immersed plants, but also a 

 sreat variety of plants that are not even aquatics. All the algae, agree in the common character of 

 having their herbage frondose, or but rarely admitting of the distinction of root, stem, and leaf. 



1 307. The utility of the algce is obviously very considerable, whether we regard them as 

 furnishing an article of animal food, or as appli- 

 cable to medicine and the arts. The fucus sac- 

 charinus {jig. 219 o.), palmatus [b), andedulis 

 (c), and several other fuci, are eaten and much 

 relished by many people, whether raw or dressed, 

 and it is likely that some of them are fed upon ' 

 by various species of fish. The fucus lichenoides 

 ( Turner f c. 318.) is now believed to be the chief 

 material of the edible nests of the East India 

 swallows, which are so much esteemed for 

 soups, that they sell in China for their weight in 

 gold. When disengaged from their place of 

 growth and thrown upon the sea-shore, the 

 European algae are often collected by the far- 

 mer and used as manure. They are often also 

 employed in the preparation of dyes, as well as 

 in the lucrative manufacture of kelp, a commo- 

 dity of the most indispensable utility in the im- 

 portant arts of making soap and glass. 



1308. The utility of the lichence is also worthy of notice. The lichen rangiferinus forms 

 the principal nourishment of the reindeer during the cold months of winter, when all 

 other herbage fails. The lichen islandicus is eaten by the Icelanders instead of bread, 

 or used in the preparation of broths, and, like the lichen pulmonarius, has been lately 

 found to be beneficial in consumptive affections. Many of them are also employed in 

 the preparation of some of our finest dyes, or pigments ; and it is from the lichen parel- 

 lus that the chemical analysist obtains his litmus. The lichens and the mosses seem in- 

 stituted by nature to provide for the universal diffusion of vegetable life over the whole 

 surface of the terrestrial globe. The powdery and tuberculous lichens attach themselves 

 even to the bare and solid rock. Hj^ving reached the maturity of their species, they die 

 and are converted into a fine earth, which forms a soil for the leathery lichens. These 

 again decay and moulder into dust in their turn ; and the depth of soil, which is thus 

 augmented, is now capable of nourishing and supporting other tribes of vegetables. The 

 seeds of the mosses lodge in it, and spring up into plants, augmenting also by their decay 

 the quantity of soil, and preparing it for the support of plants of a more luxuriant growth, 

 so that in the revolution of ages even the surface of the barren rock is covered with a 

 soil capable of supporting the loftiest trees. 



1309. The fungi are a tribe of plants whose herbage is a frond <f a fleshy r pulpy texture, quick in its 

 growth, and fugacious in its duration, and 

 bearing seeds or gems in an appropriate 

 and exposed membrane, or containing them 

 interspersed throughout its mass. They 

 are also a tribe of plants that may be re- 

 garded as the lowest in the vegetable scale, 

 exhibiting a considerable resemblance to 

 the tribe of zoophites, and thus forming 

 the connecting link between the vegetable 

 and animal kingdoms. The habitations 

 they affect are very various, many of them 

 vegetating on the surface of the earth 

 i^fis. 220 a), and some of them even buried 

 under it; others on stumps and trunks of 

 rotten trees (6) ; others on decayed fruit ; 

 others on damp and wet walls ; and others 

 on animal ordure. 



1310. Uses of the fungi. The pow- 

 der of the lycoperdons is said to be 

 an excellent optic ; and is remarkable also for its property of strongly repelling moisture. 

 If a basin filled with water, and a little of the powder strewed upon the surface so as to 

 cover it only, the hand may be plunged into it and thrust down to the bottom without 

 being wetted with a single drop of water. Several of the boleti, when dried, afford 

 a very useful tinder ; and several of the agarics and tubers are used as articles of food, 

 or as ingredients in the preparation of seasoning. The truffle (^.221.) is much 



