84 



Sargassum, while Japan has only one species of Sargassum, which is 

 used for making iodin. 



The Japanese waters are rich in kelps, laminarias, alaria, ecklonia, 

 and other genera of colder waters, but Hawaii has none, nor has she 

 any Chondrus or Gloiopeltis, both of which thrive best in the North 

 Pacific along the coasts of Japan and the United States. The kombu 

 and wakome preparations of Japan are all made from Laminaria and 

 related genera in the kelp group. 



It will be seen from the above comparison of genera and species 

 that there is some resemblance between the seaweeds of Japan and 

 Hawaii. Our waters being warmer we naturally have more tropical 

 species and no kelps. Yet quite a number of genera and several spe- 

 cies are exactly the same. This would indicate either that these species 

 flourish under widely different tempei-atures and conditions, or that 

 our water is not so much warmer as the difference of latitude would 

 suggest. Japan has the volcanic rock and the black lava just as we 

 have here, but probably no coral reefs for the algse. 



POSSIBILITY OF CULTIVATING NATIVE, JAPANESE, JAVA, OB 

 CEYLON ALG^ IN FAVORABLE LOCALITIES ON THE HAWAIIAN 

 OB AMEBICAN COAST. 



As previously mentioned, the Hawaiians have attempted a rude 

 method of cultivating and transplanting their favorite algse from one 

 island to another. In moving from island to island the chiefs carried 

 their favorite limu pakaeleawaa from Hawaii to Oahu and to Molokai. 

 It was transplanted carefully along protected beaches or on the inner 

 side of old fish ponds, where it still thrives. The writer found this 

 alga growing only in one place on Molokai, and was told by the natives 

 that it had been planted by a chief in his fish pond. In the same man- 

 ner it has been planted on Oahu in several places and is thriving. 

 Limu is weeded and cared for on the island of Kauai in order to 

 increase the quantity and quality. 



If these crude methods of culture succeed and the natives can estab- 

 lish an alga in a new place successfully, why should not more careful 

 scientific means be very successful if the most desirable varieties of 

 Hawaiian algae were planted in the most favorable localities on each 

 island? 



Perhaps some of the most valuable Japanese algse could be intro- 

 duced on the coast of Hawaii and be successfully established. It is 

 possible, too, that certain species of algse growing on the coasts of 

 Ceylon and Java could also be just as readily transplanted to our 

 islands, because the temperature of the sea is about the same, especially 

 off the coast of Hawaii. Much of the agar-agar of commerce is pre- 

 pared from the gelatin obtained from seaweeds from Java and Ceylon. 

 This very important requirement of every bacteriological laboratory 



