80 



Koughly estimated, these seaweeds yield 75 to 80 per cent of their 

 dry weight of gelatin or glue. The writer had no means of carefully 

 weighing the materials to get the exact proportions of seaweed and 

 the glue or gelatin obtained in order to make accurate estimates of 

 their ratios. All the seaweeds occuring on Hawaii in large quantities 

 were tested for gelatin with the above results. Limu uaualoli prob- 

 ably contains a considerable amount of gelatin, but is difficult to 

 gather and can only be secured with some difficulty, and only in very 

 moderate quantities on the north side of Maui, Molokai, Oahu, and 

 Kauai. It is possible that some of the species of Laurencia as limu 

 lipeepee and limu maneoneo might yield some gelatin, but they 

 do not occur in large enough quantities to be of importance in this 

 consideration. 



The writer tried using some of this seaweed gelatin as mucilage for 

 pasting on labels and pictures, etc. , and found it just as satisfactory as 

 ordinary library paste. It left no shiny mark on the edges. If kept 

 from fermenting by some preservative it would undoubtedly be just 

 as useful as any other mucilage. 



HAWAIIAN LIMITS FOB MAKING AGAB. AGAR FOB. Ctri.TITBB 



MEDIA. 



Two small jars of the clearest, best gelatin made from limu manauea 

 and limu huna were taken to the laboratory of Dr. N. A. Cobb, plant 

 pathologist at the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Experiment Station, to be 

 tested as culture media. He reported them to be quite satisfactory 

 for cultures of various fungus diseases. No doubt if this gelatin were 

 mixed with beef tea, milk, or other suitable foods it would make just 

 as satisfactory a medium for the culture of the bacteria. If we could 

 produce our own agar agar in the United States it would of course 

 save importing it from abroad. Most of the agar agar used in the 

 laboratories of the United States and Europe is made from the algse 

 of Japan and Ceylon or Java. It is prepared partly in Japan, but the 

 best quality is sent to Germany to be manufactured. We have tons 

 of gelatinous algse here in Hawaii that would make the best quality of 

 agar agar if we chose to manufacture it ready for the bacteriologist. 



FXTBTHER UTILIZATION OF HAWAIIAN SEAWEEDS FOE FOOD, 

 GELATIN, FARINA, GLUE, AND MUCILAGE. 



It is not probable that raw seaweed prepared in the usual Hawaiian 

 style would ever be generally popular with the American or European, 

 who naturally prefers his own salads and relishes to which he is accus- 

 tomed. Even those having the most pleasant saline flavor and crisp- 

 ness, as limu kohu, limu manauea, limu huna, and limu pahapaha, or 

 limu lipoa, with its peculiar pleasant spiciness have in addition a slight 

 flavor that suggests the sea, to which many people object. It is only 



