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LICHENS AS FOOD. 



X. 



On the Utility of the Licjien of Iceland as Food. By Professor 

 Proust, ji bridged from a Memoir in the Journal dc Physique 

 for Augitsty 1806. 



Enquiry whe- 

 ther the lichen 

 may not afford 

 a resource in 

 times of fa- 

 mine. 



The Iceland 

 lichen grows 

 in Spain, and 

 elsewhere in 

 southern Eu- 

 rope. 



T. 



It is of little 

 value for dye. 

 ing. 



Reports of tra 

 vellers con- 

 cerning itstus 

 as food in he 

 Horth. 



HE Professor begins his memoir by remarking, that the 

 severe pressure of famine, and the diseases which follow in its 

 train, were such as, a few years ago, directed the attention 

 of every thinking man to the means of affording subsistence to 

 the poor. And, under this interesting head of enquiry, he 

 asks, whether the lichens, of which numberless species cover 

 the rocks throughout Spain, and which constitute a large part 

 of the food of the Laplander and people of Iceland, do not 

 promise advantages well deserving investigation. 



Don Mariano La Gasca has discovered, in the environs of 

 the monastery of Harvas, the very lichen of which the Ice- 

 landers prepare a food, which travellers affirm to be as sub- 

 stantial as wheaten bread. This monastery is situated at a 

 considerable elevation in the mountains which separate the 

 province of Leon from Asturias. It is also found in great 

 abundance in many parts of the latter province. It was before 

 known to grow in many places of Europe, but has been prin- 

 cipally spoken of as an article of medicine ; concerning which 

 our author speaks in a general way, and without any marks of 

 approbation, in the course of two piges, through which it is 

 needless to follow him. 



When Mr. Proust received the lichen from La Gasca, he 

 ' found reason to examine it rather as an article of food than a 

 dyeing drug; being induced to do so by the reports of tra- 

 vellers, collected in the Apparatus Medicaminum of Murray, 

 which are the following : 



Von Troil informs us that the Icelanders made excursions 

 of a week or a fortnight to the districts which produce the 

 Lichen, which they carry home and keep in sacks till the time 

 of use, when they wash it and reduce it to flour. Olafer 

 asserts that two measures of this powder are as nourishing as 

 one measure of wheat flour. After soaking it in water lor a 

 day to take away its bitterness, they boil it witii whey till it 



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