228 CRYPTOGAMIA ALG^E. 



Hab. On rocks near low-water mark, not uncommon. (J 



The frond is generally perforated with holes eaten through 

 by marine insects, with which the H. edulis appears to be 

 a favourite. It is eatable, but does not occur in sufficient 

 quantities to be commonly used. " Mr STACKHOUSE ob- 

 served the frond to give out a fine purple colour to the 

 water in which it was macerating ; and the Rev. W. GRE- 

 GOR obtained a fine lake from an infusion with the assist- 

 ance of alum." GREVILLE. 



5. //. palmata, stalk very, short, expanded into a thin membra- 

 naceous purplish-red palmate frond, deeply cleft, the segments 

 oblong, mostly simple, entire, frequently proliferous. (Dulse.) 

 HOOK. Scot. ii. 107- Fucus palmatus, LIGHTF. Scot. 933. t 27. 

 WITH. iv. 110. NEILL in Edin. Encycl. x. 21. Ulva _palmata y 

 GREV. Fl. Edin. 298. RJwdomenia palmata, GREV. Alg. Brit. 93. 



Hab. On the stems ofLaminaria digitata, and on rocks near 

 low-water mark, abundant. 



" Hunc Hiberni Scotique apud quos copiose invenitur, stu- 

 diose exsiccatum et convolutum assidue in ore habent et 

 masticant." RAY. The less agreeable tobacco has sup- 

 planted this use of dulse, which, however, in a raw state, 

 is still occasionally eaten by the common people, from a 

 belief of its being a sweetener of the blood, and a remedy 

 for scorbutic complaints. " There is," says Mr NEILL, 

 " a common saying in Stronsa, that he who eats of the 

 dulse of Guiodin, and drinks of the wells of Kildingie, will 

 escape all maladies except black death." To the Iceland- 

 ers //. palmata is a plant of considerable importance. They 

 prepare it by washing it well in fresh water, and exposing 

 it to dry, when it gives out a white powdery substance, 

 which is sweet and palatable, and covers the whole plant ; 

 they then pack it in casks to keep it from the air, and thus 

 preserve it ready to be eaten either in this state, with fish 

 and butter, or, according to the practice of wealthier tables, 

 boiled in milk, and mixed with a little flour of rye. The 

 cattle are also very fond of this ?ea-weed, and the sheep 

 are said to seek it with such avidity as often to be lost by 

 going too far from the land at low water Quart. Rev, 

 vii. 68. 



6. H. lacerata, frond scarcely stalked, rose-colour, thin, trans- 

 parent, membranous, longitudinally veined at the base, torn into 

 unequal ragged segments, crisped and undulate at the edges 



4 



