Remarks on the Crude Sodas of Commerce. 43 



be manufactured in the United States, but as it appears to 

 me that this manufacture may be introduced advantageously 

 among us, I propose to give some account of the most ap- 

 proved method at present practised, in the hope that it may 

 direct the attention of those persons to the subject, who are 

 conveniently situated for making the attempt. From the in- 

 crease of our manufactures, and as all the crude sodas at 

 present consumed are imported, it is highly probable that 

 there would be a full demand for the article. The material 

 may, for the trouble of collecting it, be had, in immense quan- 

 tities, along our extensive sea coast, nor can any thing be 

 cheaper or more simple than its manufacture. Some idea 

 may be formed of the advantages that may be derived from 

 this manufacture, from the great and obviously increasing im- 

 portance that is attached to the subject in Great Britain. 

 There are frequent communications on the subject in their 

 best journals, and prizes offered to encourage its cultivation, 

 by their societies for the promotion of the arts and manufac- 

 tures. As long ago as 1798, it was stated by Prof. Jameson 

 in his Mineralogy of the Shetland Isles, that " farms which 

 before the introduction of kelp rented at forty pounds, now 

 rent for three hundred pounds." It is also asserted by Mr. 

 Parkes that Lord McDonald of the Isles, now realizes ten 

 thousand pounds per annum from his kelp shores, which 

 his ancestors considered valueless. 



Nearly all marine plants, especially the fuci, are found to 

 yield soda from combustion. Those which are preferred are 

 the fucus vesiculosus, nodosus, and serraius /* they are found 

 spontaneously growing on the rocks near the shore, generally 

 between high and low water marks. Generally speaking, 

 bays and caves that are sheltered from the winds and tides 

 are found best, though some of the fuci flourish best in the 

 most exposed situations, and the strongest tideways. For- 

 merly, the kelp was made entirely from the floating sea ware, 

 as it washed up on the shore, but, since the manufacture has 

 become profitable, greater care is taken in its preparation. 

 It is now common to cultivate these plants by depositing on 

 sandy beaches, large boulder stones, to which the fuel may 

 readily attach themselves, and to cut and collect the ware ; 

 colcareous stones are found best. In the Repertory of Arts, 



* It would appear that this class of plants has not received much attention 

 from hotanists in this country. I have heen informed, however, by good au- 

 thority, that these/wet are found in abundance along our coast. 



