LICHEN. 



737 



the snow, is found in its most flourishing state. The 

 rein-deer, tossing aside the icy surface-covering with 

 their antlers, and scraping off the loose snow with their 

 fore-feet, devour the lichen greedily, and even be- 



h'c 



KeckUcs. 



Af nti. 

 dtrf food 



To this account of M. Proust, it may be proper to Lichen, 

 subjoin the result of an analysis performed by Berzelius, N "V^* 

 as detailed in the <)0th volume of the Annaks de Chimie, 

 especially as this analysis is probably the most rigorous 



come fat upon it. When the proper lichen is deficient, and accurate which has hitherto been made of any spe- 



some other species are resorted to by the deer, partial- ~ ""' " '"" ' ' ' ' "" 



larly Stereocaulon paschale, and the'common rock-: air, 

 A lectori* jubata. In this country the rein-deer lichen 

 u seldom found more than three or four inches high : 

 in Lapland, however, it flourishes exceedingly, and is 

 frequently from six to ten inches in height. In some 

 districts of the north of Europe, it is collected like hay, 

 and rtnred as provender for black cattle. In the moun- 

 tainous districts of Upper Camiola, Cetraria Islandica 

 u collected in quantities, and used for fattening cattle. 

 Even in the southern States of America, particularly in 

 Viigini*, species of lichen is gathered for winter food 

 both for heen and rows. This is the necklace-mots, 

 Lichen articulatus, (which is L. harbatus in an ad- 

 ranted stage of growth, or Usnea barbata of Acliarius.) 

 Many species of lichen are eaten by goats, and evi- 

 dently afford a grateful food to them. 



cies of lichen. From 100 parts he obtained the iollo"^- 

 ing constituents : 



Syrup 3.6 



Bitartrate of potass, with a little tartrate and 



phosphate of lime ] .g 



Bitter principle 3 



Green wax j.g 



Gum 3.7 



Extractive colouring matter 7 



Starch 4,4.5 



Insoluble starchy matter ...... 36.6 



101.6 



A substance containing 80 parts in the 1 00 of starch, 

 or starchy matter, and small portions of syrup and 

 gum, must be highly nutritious ; and Proust remarks, 



Only two or three species of lichen have hitherto been that nature can scarcely furnish a more excellent ar- 



eniployed by man as articles of food. Several species 

 have, t\ different times, acquired celebrity in the cure 



tide of food. In general it retains a slightly bitter- 

 ish taste, resembling the flavour of weak succory wa- 

 i i 'f i , . . . . 



of disease*. The moat important and valuable use of ter : but if seasoned with sugar and lemon-peel, and 



lichen*, however, is in th* arts, particularly in dyeing. 

 / oi la Man. The principal species which affords 

 food to mankind i the iJckrn Itiaudicus, or Eryngo- 

 leaved Liverwort, (Cetraria Islandica, Ach.) This, as 

 implied in the trivial name, is abundant in Iceland, 

 where no kind of grain can be ripened. It is col- 

 lected in the summer, and, when dry, ground into 

 meal or floor, of which bread and gruel, or pottage, 

 are made. It u sometime* also put whole into broth, 

 or i* boiled in whey, tilt ft be converted into a jel- 

 ly. In general, it i eithor previously steeped for 

 tome hour* in warm water, or the water of the first 

 boiling i* rejected, in order to remove a part of the 

 btttrr extractive matter, which, if left, produces a dis- 

 agreeable taste, and is ant to tirove purgative. It has 

 often been recommended as a light and delicate article 

 of food for penions of a pl-.tliisie.il habit, or subject to 

 catirrh.il complaints ; and for tlii- pur]>ose it is yearly 

 imported in small quantities into England. In the Jour- 

 nal tir Pkijiiq-tr. M. I'rou-t particularly mentions its pro- 

 perties as an esculent substance. One pound weight of 

 the dry lichen in powder, we/irhrd, when boiled for a 

 quarter of an hour, and well drained, about three 

 Bounds ; and the same quantity of the dry lichen was 

 Hand sufficient for making no less than eight pounds 

 of soup ; and this soup was so rich, that, on cooling, it 

 turned to a tremulous jelly. The lichen, simply tail- 

 ed, possesses a sort of membranous elasticity, on ac- 

 count of its containing a considerable proportion of in- 

 soluble starchy matter. 



One hundred parti of dried lichen afforded to M. 

 Proust, of 



Bitter extractive 3 



Matter soluble in hot water . . 33 

 insoluble 64 



100 



The soluble matter, he remarks, is nearly allied to 

 starch, and, like it, is precipitated by infusion of galls: 

 it differs from it, however, in not being glutinous, and 

 in the solid matter of the jelly contracting and separa- 

 ting froma the fluid, us curd does from whey. The in- 

 soluble matter, on the other hand, has much analogy 

 whh gluten. 



eaten with butter or oil, it is said to form a very palate- 

 able dish. Sir George Mackenzie, in his Travels in 

 Icehmi, mentions that this 1 chen was mixed with cho- 

 colate made for breakfast, at the house of Dr. Clog, a 

 physician near Reikiavig, but that he could not, from the 

 taste of the beverage, have detected the presence of the 

 lichen. Proust recommends it as a very convenient an- 

 tiscorbutic vegetable on long sea voyages, and as a 

 home article of diet in times of scarcity. Liljeblad, it 

 may be added, has published a separate tract, strongly 

 recommending its use in Sweden, when visited with 

 unfavourable seasons and bad harvests. 



The Iceland-moss has scarcely any perceptible fla- 

 vour : indeed very few of the lichen tribe affect either 

 the sense of taste or of smell. A small species (Leci- 

 dea arouiiitica, Ach.) first described by Mr. Turner of 

 Yarmouth, is said to possess a slightly aromatic taste ; 

 and Variolaria amara and Borrera furfuracea are re- 

 markable for their bitter qualities. From Mr Hook- 

 er's work on Iceland, we learn, that Gyrophora hirsu- 

 ta of Acliarius, is considered by M. Paulsen as form- 

 ing an article of food greatly superior in quality to 

 the Cetraria Islandica. It is produced only on lofty 

 cra{s ; and whether it can be collected in considerable 

 quantities is not mentioned. It is, however, a pretty 

 common species on the gneiss rocks of Sweden. On 

 the same authority, it may be added, that Gyrophora 

 cylindrical is used as food in Iceland in times of scarci- 

 ty : this species, we may notice, was observed on the 

 mountain of Goatfield in Arran, by Mr. Lightfoot ; and 

 by him described under the name of Lichen crinitus. 



A lichen is noticed by Professor Pallas, in his earlier 

 Travels, as growing on the calcareous mountains of the 

 Great Desert of Tartary, the thick coriaceous crust of 

 which is eaten by the wandering tribes : It is described 

 by Acharius under the name of Urceolaria esculenta. 



Gmelin informs us, that, in Siberia, the lungwort lich- 

 en, Sticta pulmonacea, is used, in the making of ale, as 

 a substitute for hops ; and Georgi notices it as an edi- 

 ble species, along with Parmelia physodes, Usnea 

 plicata var. hirta, and Ramalina farinacea. These lich- 

 ens, when boiled, yield a yellow mucilage, nearly insi- 

 pid ; and, when eaten with salt, are said to form a to- 

 lerable food. They all give out a portion of resin to 



