420 ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL 



G. Some minor Uses of Lichens 



The possibility of extracting gum or mucilage from lichens was demon- 

 strated by the Russian scientist, Professor Georgi^, and later by Amoreux^ 

 the method employed being successive boiling of the plants. The larger 

 foliose or fruticose forms were specially recommended. 



At a later date, during the Napoleonic wars, the "ingenious Lord 

 Dundonald'," of great fame as an inventor, published an account of the 

 extraction process and of the application of the gum to calico-printing, 

 staining and manufacture of paper, dressing and stiffening silks. Lord 

 Dundonald's aim was to replace the gum Senegal, then a monopoly of the 

 French, who were in possession of the Settlement of Senegambia. He took 

 out a patent for his invention, but whether the gum was successfully used 

 is not recorded. 



According to Henneguy^, lichen mucilage, as a substitute for gum arable, 

 has been used at Lyons with advantage in the fabrication of dyed materials. 



^ Georgi 1779. ^ Amoreux 1787, 3 Dundonald 1801. " Henneguy 1883. 



