AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. 8i 



The red algse (Fioridae or Rhodosperms), on the contrary, attain 

 the maximum of their growth in deeper water and in places where 

 they are not much influenced by direct sunlight. Those of their 

 varieties which do not follow this rule, but grow near the rim^ of 

 the sea's great mirror, or, it may be, lie at times partly dry, lose 

 much of their wealth of colour, and incline toward violet, orange, 

 or green. 



On the island of Yezo, sea-algae, particularly the big seaweeds, 

 form, next to fish, the principal article of export, especially to 

 China. The chief elements of this trade in algae are : — 



1. Kombu, the tangle or sea-girdle, Laminaria sachariita, La- 

 mour {L.japonica^ Arech. ; Fuciis saccharinus, Thunb.). 



2. Arame, Capea elongata, Ag. 



3. Katsumi, Capea flab elliformis, Rich. 



4. Wakame, Badderlocks, Alaria esculenta, Grev. ; ^. pinnatifida, 

 Harv. 



5. Haba-nori, Phylittis debilis Kg., varieties which in part are 

 still gathered on the shores of Honshiu. 



Most of the edible green and red algae bear the generic name Norl, 

 while the words Umi-kusa or Kai-s6 are used for algae in general, 

 these words being simply translations of the English "sea-weed." 



Of green algae several varieties of Ulvacece, or green laver, are 

 gathered and used on the Japanese coasts, sometimes fresh, in soup, 

 sometimes dried or with vinegar or pickled in salt. These are not 

 merely the cosmopolitan sea-lettuce, or lettuce laver, as U. Lactua, 

 L., Ao-nori, and others, but also Phycoseris australis, Kg. (Ulva 

 latissima^ Ag.), called Nori ; likewise EnieromorpJia compressa, Grev. 

 [U. compressa, L.). The Japanese call them Ao-nori and eat them 

 either fresh in soup, or dried, with vinegar and starch. They 

 usually appear in commerce in the form of little packages with the 

 thalli running parallel. 



Modzuku is the name of the Mesogloia decipiens, Sun, which 

 comes especially from the peninsula Kadzusa-Awa, and is used 

 like the above. The same is true of Somen-nori, i.e. the vermicelli- 

 algae (A^^w^^//^'/^ vermicidare). Several varieties of Codiuin, Jap. Miru, 

 distributed through nearly all the seas, are not lacking either; for 

 instance, Codium tonientositm^ Ag., and C. elongatiun^ Ag. 



The cartilaginous Florideae, particularly species and varieties of the 

 Gigartineae, Caulacantheae, Gelide, Sphaerococceae, and Tylocarpeae, 

 are distinguished for their high proportion of pararabin, and furnish, 

 with boiling water, algae -jelly. They are gathered in great quan- 

 tities on all the coasts of the Malay Archipelago and the waters 

 of China and Japan, and are utilized in part direct as food, partly 

 in the preparation of algae-glue, Jap. Fu-nori, or algae -jelly, Jap. 

 Kanten. In trade, these articles, both when raw and dried and 

 when further prepared, are designated by the Malay word Agar- 

 Agar, i.e. vegetable. This name was originally applied to Gigartina 

 [Eucheuma) isifonnis, G. spinosa^ and G. tenax^ which is collected 



II. G 



