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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU <>F FISHERIES 



Isinglass made from Gelidium is one form of agar-agar, now so extensively used 

 in making culture media in bacteriological work. Other sources are the Australian 

 and Asiatic plants, Eucheuma spinosum, Gracilaria lichenoides, 0. tenax, and other 

 related species, which yield the products known in commerce as agar-agar, agar-agar 

 gum, agal-agal. Bengal isinglass, Bengal isinglass gum, Ceylon moss, Ceylon agar- 

 agar, Chinese moss, etc. 



Vegetable isinglass is composed largely of gelose or pararabin, a substance 

 remarkable for its gelatinizing properties, which exceed those of any other known 

 product. It is insoluble in cold water, alcohol, dilute acids, and alkalies; its melting 

 point is 90° F; it has eight times the gelatinizing power of ordinary gelatine and 

 isinglass; and 1 part to 500 parts of boiling water forms a jelly on cooling. Gelose 



jelly keeps well, but owing to its high 

 melting point is not so well adapted for 

 food preparations as some other jellies. 



dulse (Rhodymenia palmatd). 



The dulse is found along the shores 

 of all the States from North Carolina 

 to Maine, and is very abundant in New 

 England. It is rough-dried in the sun. 

 and eaten dry as a relish. It is met 

 with in stores in the coastwise towns 

 of the Eastern States, but is usually 

 brought from the Canadian provinces, 

 and has not figured in recent statistical 

 canvasses of the New England fish- 

 eries. Other species of this genus 

 grow on the west coast of the United 

 States. Several other alga/ known as 

 dulse in Europe, and used in the same 

 way as Rhodynu n'm. are represented by 

 various species on the Pacific coast of 

 America. In Ireland, dulse is eaten with butter and fish, and is also boiled in 

 milk with rye fiour (Simmonds, 1883). Some gentlemen in the Scotch Highlands 

 known to Stanford (1884) are quoted as holding that "a dish of dulse boiled in 

 milk is the best of all vegetables." Swan (1893) states that dulse is common 

 on the northwest coast and is an article of diet among the Haida Indians of Queen 

 Charlotte Island and other tribes, although not in general use. Like the green 

 and purple laver used by the same Indians, it is dried and compressed into blocks, 

 and as needed is sliced with a sharp knife, soaked in fresh water, and boiled. Swan 

 partook of an Indian meal of dulse boiled with halibut and found it very palatable. 



Dulse I Rhodynu nia jxdmata i . 



