238 ALG&. CHAP. IV. 



dicine and the arts. The Fucus edulis, and several 

 other Fuciy 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. When disengaged from their place of growth 

 and thrown upon the sea shore, they are often col- 

 lected by the farmer and converted into a manure. 

 They are often also employed, as the name imports, 

 in the preparation of dyes, as well as in the lucra- 

 tive manufacture of kelp, a commodity of the 

 most indispensable utility in the important arts of 

 making soap and glass. 



The Lichen rangiferinus forms the principal 

 nourishment of the Rein-deer during the cold 

 months of winter, when all other herbage fails. 

 The Lichen islandicus is eaten by the Icelanders in- 

 stead 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 Parellus that the chemical ana* 

 lysist obtains his Litmus. 



In the na- The Lichens exemplify also more completely 

 ation of m " what was already noticed in the case of the Mosses, 

 namely, the wise institution of nature in providing 

 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. Having reached the ma- 



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