186 



HISTORY OP THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



The longest, perhaps of all linown algte, though 

 at the same time comparatively slender, are the 

 macroci/stes. This appears to be the sea weed 

 reported by navigators to be from 500 to 1500 

 feet in length. The leaves are long and narrow, 

 and at the base of each is placed a vesicle filled 

 with air, without which it would be impossible 

 for the plant to support its enormous length in 

 the water, the stem being not thicker than the 

 finger, and the upper branches as slender as pack 

 thread. All those algae destined to resist the 

 force and agitation of stormy seas, have roots pe- 

 culiarly adapted to take the firmest hold of the 

 rocks, which they grapple by means of tough 

 and thick fibres. Other species of shorter dura- 

 tion, or presenting less surface to be acted on by 

 the waves, are generally fixed by a simple shield- 

 like base or disk. 



Man, who has been humorously defined to be 

 a cooking animal, not content with the tribute 

 of fish rendered to him by the ocean, converts 

 many of her vegetable productions into articles 

 of diet. The duhe of the Scotch (rhodomenia 

 palmata), dillesh of the Irish, and saccharine 

 funis of the Icelanders, is consumed in consider- 

 able quantities throughout the maritime coun- 

 tries of the north of Europe, and in the Grecian 

 Archipelago. Another species, nearly similar, 

 the iridasa eduUs, is still occasionally used both 

 in Scotland and England. The thin pui-ple and 

 green membranous slake, or laver (porphyra la- 

 ciniata), is stewed, and brought to our tables as 

 a luxury. The pepper d.ulse (laurentia pinna- 

 tifida), distinguished for its pungent taste, and 

 the young stalks of the sea tangle, were of old 

 often eaten in Scotland ; and even yet, though 

 rarely, the old cry, " Buy dulse and tangle," may 

 be heard in the streets of Edinburgh. When 

 stripped of the thin part, the beautiful tangle, 

 called in Scotland hadderlocks (alaria esculenta), 

 forms a part of the simple fare of the poorer 

 classes of Ireland and Scotland, Iceland, Den- 

 mark, and the Faroe islands. The Irish moss, 

 as it is erroneously called, the cliondrus crispus, 

 very common on the Scottish and Irish coast, 

 may, by boiling, be converted into a tenacious 

 glue, or, boiled with milk and sugar, and al- 

 lowed to cool, it forms a light and nutritious 

 hlanc-mange. 



To go farther from home, we find the large 

 sea tangle, laminaria potatorum, of Australia fur- 

 nishing the aborigines with a proportion of their 

 instruments, vessels, and food, while other spe- 

 cies of the same family constitute an equally im- 

 portant resource to the poor on the west coast of 

 South America. In Asia several species oi gele- 

 dium are made use of to render more palatable 

 the hot and biting condiments of the East. Some 

 undetei-mined species of this family also furnish 

 the materials of which the celebrated edible swal- 

 lows' nests are composed. It is remarked by 



Lamouroux, that three species of swallows con- 

 struct edible nests, two of which build at a dis- 

 tance from the sea coast, and use the sea weed 

 only as a cement for other matters. The nests 

 of the third are consequently most esteemed, and 

 they sell for nearly their weight in gold. Gra- 

 celaria achcnoides is highly valued for food in 

 Ceylon and other parts of the coast, and bears a 

 great resemblance to gracelaria compressa, a spe- 

 cies recently discovered on the British coast, and 

 which seems to be little inferior to it. 



It is not to man alone that these marine vege- 

 tables have furnished luxuries or resources in 

 times of scarcity. Several species are greedily 

 sought after by cattle, especially in the north 

 of Europe. One species, rhodomenia palmata, 

 is so great a favourite with sheep and goats, that 

 Bishop Gunner named lifucus omnvs. In some 

 of the Scottish islands horses, cattle, and sheep, 

 feed principally on bladder fucus during the 

 winter months; and in Gothland it is commonly 

 given to pigs: other common species constitute 

 a part of the fodder upon which the cattle are 

 supported in Norway. 



Tlie algse are also of service in medicine. The 

 Corsican moss, as it is fi-equently called, is a na- 

 tive of the Mediterranean, and was at one time 

 esteemed as a vermifuge. The most important 

 medical use, however, derived from sea weeds, 

 is their affording iodine, which may be obtained 

 either from the plants directly, or after they 

 have been converted into kelp. French kelp, 

 according to Sir H. Davy, yields more iodine 

 than British; and from some recent experiments 

 made at the Cape of Good Hope, laminaria 

 buccinalis is found to contain more than any 

 European algse. Iodine is known to be a power- 

 ful remedy in glandular swellings of a scrofu- 

 lous nature, as also in cases of goitre, or swelling 

 of the glands of the neck. The burnt sponge 

 formerly administered in similar cases, most 

 probably owed its eificacy to the iodine it con- 

 tained; and it is also a very curious fact, that 

 the stems of a sea weed are sold in the shops 

 and chewed by the inhabitants of South America 

 wherever goitre is prevalent, for the purpose of 

 cure. This remedy is tenued by them polo coto, 

 literally goitre stick. 



The algse are also of essential seiwice in the 

 arts, and probably farther experience will daily 

 render them more so. A Chinese sea weed, the 

 fucus tenax, is extensively used by that people 

 as a glue and varnish. Though a small plant, 

 the quantity annually imported at Canton from 

 the provinces of Fokien and Tchekiang is stated 

 by ilr Turner to be about 27,000 lbs. It is sold 

 at Canton for 6d. or 8d. per lb.; and is used for 

 all those purposes for which we apply glue anii 

 gum Arabic. The Chinese employ it chiefly in 

 the manufacture of lanthrons, to strengthen or 

 varnish the paper; and sometime to thicken or 



