12 SEA-SIDE PLANTS. 



the real samphire are not likely to purchase this ; 

 and similar as it is in general appearance, it differs 

 much in its flowers, which consist of dense spikes, 

 jointed like the stem, and bearing at the base of 

 every articulation, on two opposite sides, a cluster 

 of three little blossoms. It was formerly called 

 jointed glasswort, crabbe grasse, and frog grasse, 

 and we now frequently hear it termed marsh 

 samphire, to distinguish it from the rock plant. 

 Its saltish taste renders it very agreeable to ani-. 

 mals, and it is one of the plants which, on our 

 saline soils, prove so beneficial to cattle, that they 

 are often sent there by their owners to regain lost 

 flesh and strength. Most animals enjoy feeding 

 on this kind of herbage, as the whole of it must be 

 more or less impregnated with salt, and it is not 

 unlikely that the sea air has upon the frame of the 

 inferior animals the same invigorating effect which 

 it has upon the constitution of man. 



This glasswort, as well as several other species, 

 abounds on the shores of the Mediterranean, and 

 they are all included under the name of Erla-cali> 

 by the Italians ; while the German name of glass- 

 schmaltz, like our glasswort, is significant of the 

 uses of these plants in Germany. In the south 

 of Europe, as well as in northern Africa, this 

 salicornia was burnt for the soda which its ashes 

 contain ; and this material was much in use by the 

 soap and glass manufacturer of these countries. 

 At Marseilles, especially, a great quantity was 

 gathered from the sea-shores for the purpose 

 of burning for soda. We have another British 

 species, called the creeping-glasswort (Salicor- 

 nia radicans], which is very much like the former 

 kind, only that it is more branching and strag- 



