PERNS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 95 



two inches and a half in diameter. These balls are 

 thoroughly dried, and carried about the neighbourhood 

 for sale in the markets, and they are also frequently 

 kept by shopkeepers to supply their customers." They 

 serve the purpose of economising the use of soap. They 

 are, before being used, thrown into the fire, and when 

 thoroughly heated are placed in water, which thus 

 becomes a strong ley. The ancients are supposed to 

 have used both the fronds and stems of the Brake in 

 diet drinks, and medicines for many disorders have, at 

 various times, been made in our country from this fern. 

 It is very astringent, and has been recommended for 

 dressing and preparing kid and chamois leather ; while 

 both in this and other lands the ashes, from the alkali 

 which they contain, were found serviceable in the 

 manufacture of soap and glass, until discoveries in 

 chemistry suggested the use of other materials for the 

 purpose. This very astringency seems to render the 

 Brake unsuitable for the food of man, though some 

 writers think that nutriment would be afforded by its 

 large rhizome. This is often ground to powder, and 

 mixed with the flour in bread eaten in some parts of 

 Normandy; but, perhaps, like the admixture of pine 

 bark with the flour, used in some countries in the north 

 of Europe, it adds rather to the quantity than to the 

 nutritious quality of the bread. The rootstock of this 

 brake, however, as we are informed by Humboldt, 

 serves the inhabitants of Palma and Gomera, in the 

 Canary Islands, for food. They grind it, he says, to 

 powder, and mix it with a small quantity of barley meal. 

 This composition is termed ^qfio ; and the author adds. 



