THE HARVEST OF THE SEA. 185 



There is said to be a trace of gold in all sea- 

 water, and many efforts have been made to ex- 

 tract it profitably. A few years ago a speculator 

 put up works on the coast of Maine for taking 

 gold out of sea-water. He would sink his cans 

 beneath a wharf, and pass electricity through 

 them all night. 



Ill the morning, when they were pulled up, 

 they were found to contain considerable gold, and 

 many people paid him large sums of money for a 

 share in the business. 



He took their money and soon disappeared. 

 When he did not come back, they began to look 

 around, and at length it was found that he had 

 employed a diver to go down into the water, each 

 night, and put the gold into the cans. It is not prob- 

 able that the sea will be used as a gold mine 

 again, till people have forgotten this wicked cheat. 



The vegetable products of the sea consist chiefly 

 of various kinds of mosses or seaweeds which are 

 used for food or are employed in the arts. Some 

 nations, as the Japanese, eat seaweeds very freely, 

 while Americans eat them but little, though they 

 make some use of them as medicines. 



From sea-mosses we can extract much gum or 

 mucilage, which is used by clothmakers, and the 

 refuse can be made into a stiff pasteboard for 



