HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



ALG 



consequence they are collected to make a 

 fine kind of glue, or as a substitute for 

 isinglass. Carrageen, or Irish Moss, 

 which consists, in great measure, of com- 

 mon species of Chondrus, is a most use- 

 ful article in cattle feeding, when boiled 

 and mixed with other nutritious matters. 

 Among the Chlorosperms, besides the 

 Laver above mentioned, a species of 

 Nostoc is much used as an ingredient in 

 soup by the Chinese ; but it seems not to 

 have much to recommend it beyond the 

 quantity of commercial bassorine which it 

 contains. Durvillcea ulilis is employed 

 for the same purpose in Chili. The si- 

 liceous coats of Diatomacece, of which the 

 substance called Tripoli is entirely com- 

 posed, form a capital substance for pol- 

 ishing, and the close parallel lines of ex- 

 treme fineness with which they are fre- 

 quently grooved, make them very useful 

 in microscopical researches as a test. 



The larger Algce were formerly much 

 employed in the manufacture of kelp. 

 More advanced chemical knowledge has, 

 however, entirely suspended the practice, 

 carbonate of soda being now obtained 

 from other sources, to the great detri- 

 ment of many of the proprietors on the 

 sea-coasts of Scotland and elsewhere. 

 They form also a very valuable manure, 

 and it has been proposed in England, by 

 the Rev. J. M. Berkeley, to manufacture 

 a portable manure from Algce partially 

 dried, and then ground down with coni- 

 cal crushers, the pulpy mass being mixed 

 with peat ashes, and dried in strongly- 

 ventilated sheds. Algce, best known as 

 "Sea- weed," have long been used as 

 manure by farmers along the coast of 

 New England, Long Island, New Jersey, 

 etc., immense quantities being thrown 

 ashore in the fall of the year. It is 



ALI 



generally worked over in the pig-pen, 

 and then composted with the barn-yard 

 manure. It is also used as a covering 

 for Strawberries and other plants during 

 the winter. 



Some of the lower Algce approach, as 

 before observed, very pear to Moulds, and 

 in consequence many of the latter, when 

 submerged and barren, have been as- 

 signed to Algae. Such productions, how- 

 ever, as yeast, and other matters which 

 occur in fermenting bodies, are now 

 pretty well understood, and are referred 

 to a more befitting place in the vegetable 

 kingdom. It is very doubtful if any true 

 Alga is parasitic on animals, those which 

 have been supposed to be so, as Sarcina, 

 etc., being in all probability Fungi. The 

 curious productions which grow on fish 

 and other aquatic animals, as Leptomitus, 

 etc., are the only exception, if, indeed, 

 these also should not be excluded. Algce 

 extend to the utmost limits of vegetation, 

 and some of them are found at great 

 depths in the sea. The limits of the dis- 

 tribution of species are not so extensive 

 as in Fungi, though some have a very 

 wide range. Many fossil species are de- 

 scribed, but "* the nature of the greater 

 part is obscure. 



Algols. The English term for Algce. 

 Alismacece. A small group of aquatic 

 plants, with tripetaloid flowers and supe- 

 rior ovaries, each containing only one or 

 two seeds. In some respects, though En- 

 dogens, (see Endogens,} they much resem- 

 ble ranunculaceous Exogens, (see Exo- 

 gens,) Ranunculus Parnassifohus having 

 altogether the appearance of an Alisma. 

 Although for the most part natives of 

 the northern parts of the world, some 

 species of Sagittaria and Damasonium in- 

 habit the tropics. Alisma and Sagittaria 



