SEA-WEEDS. 135 



Its fronds grow in tufts of several together ; they 

 are flat, of a purplish red colour, and the seg- 

 ments so divided as well to represent fingers, while 

 at the base, a portion remains undivided, forming 

 the frond altogether into the shape of the human 

 hand. When the sea-weed is old, it is hard and 

 tough externally, but within soft and mucilagin- 

 ous. The young specimens are thin, and of a 

 lighter colour, and they are frequently seen of the 

 form represented by our engraving, consisting of 

 a central oval piece, surrounded by palm-shaped 

 leaflets, and situated on short slender stalks, and 

 reminding us, when laid out on paper, of a sprawl- 

 ing insect with a small body and large limbs. As 

 Sir J. E. Smith observes, this seems the most 

 nutritious, and the most agreeable to the palate, 

 of any species of sea- weed used in the northern 

 hemisphere as food. Sir William Hooker remarks 

 of it " On the Scotch coast, it is eaten raw by 

 the natives ; and in the county of Caithness, in 

 particular, I have seen a number of women and 

 children gathering it from the rocks, and devour- 

 ing it with great avidity." Both the Scotch and 

 Irish also dry it in the sun, and roll it up and use 

 it instead of tobacco. Nor is this dulse eaten only 

 by the peasants. It is not indeed a general article 

 of diet, as it once was, in any part of our kingdom, 

 save on those remote shores to which, as yet, 

 refinement has not brought new tastes and new 

 dishes ; yet many who can afford to procure costly 

 food relish it still, perhaps because it brings with 

 it some associations of childhood, as some of us 

 may now like the blackberries or other wild 

 fruits, because they remind us of by-gone times, 

 and happy hours in the woodlands. Many, too, 



