Jcxz 9, 1005.] 



SCIEXCE. 



895 



THE TORREr BOTANICAL CLUB. 



A REGULAR meeting was held on April 11, 

 at the American Museum of Xatural History, 

 President Eusby in the chair and twenty-two 

 additional members present. 



The paper of the evening was on ' Some 

 Edible Seaweeds,' by Professor H. M. Eich- 

 ards. 



After reference to the indirect importance 

 of plankton organisms as a source of food for 

 animal life in the sea the speaker referred to 

 those forms of algae which are used directly 

 by man as foodstuffs. They were grouped 

 roughly under four heads — blue-green, grass- 

 green, brown and red algae. 



In the first group, specimens of a form 

 much prized by the Chinese were shown, which 

 is, according to good authority. Xostoc com- 

 mune flagelliforme. This becomes highly 

 gelatinous when soaked in warm water and is 

 used as a thickening or sauce. A Japanese 

 form, ' Su-zen-ji-nori,' of more doubtful na- 

 ture, but probably an Aphanothece, was also 

 shown. 



Among the grass-green forms mention was 

 made of various species of Ulva and Entero- 

 rnorpha, which in dried form go under the 

 name of ' layer ' in the British isles and 

 ' ao-nori ' among the Japanese. 



Among the brown forms only one of the 

 Fucaceae was mentioned as an article of food, 

 namely DurviUea ufilis, which is said to be 

 eaten by the natives in certain parts of Chili. 



The Laminaria forms, however, include a 

 large number of edible species. Alaria escu- 

 lenta, common both here and in Europe, was 

 at one time eaten occasionally in the Occident. 

 At the present time the Japanese and Chinese 

 make great use of these forms, indeed, after 

 fish, they constitute the chief article of export 

 of the Hokkaido. They are exceedingly 

 plentiful in that region and their collection 

 and preparation for market is a thriving busi- 

 ness. In this connection the report of Pro- 

 fessor Miyabe and others was passed around 

 and attention was called to the illustrations 

 showing the mode of harvesting the seaweeds. 

 The two most important species seem to be 

 Laminaria saccharina (Laminarin japonica) 

 and Ulopteryx pinnatifida (presumably iden- 



tical with Undaria distans more recently sepa- 

 rated by Miyabe and Okamura), which are 

 known imder the respective names of "'Kombu' 

 and ' Wakame '* by the Japanese. Many other 

 forms are eaten, however. 



After reference to the well-known examples 

 ' Irish moss ' {Chondrus crispus) and ' dulse,' 

 it was said that the two tyi)e5 most used are 

 the delicate Porphyra forms and the more 

 massive cartilaginous kinds, such as various 

 Gigartina, Gelidium, Gloiopeltis species. Por- 

 phyra has also been eaten by Europeans and 

 is said to be used by the natives in parts of 

 Alaska, but it is most highly prized by the 

 Japanese and Chinese. Under the name of 

 ' asakusa-nori ' it is put up in neat tin boxes 

 and largely sold in the Tokio markets, it being 

 used by itself or for thickening, giving, as it 

 does, a very glutinous mixture with hot water. 

 ' Eu-nori,' used chiefly as we \ise starch, is a 

 mixture of species of Gloiopeltis and Endo- 

 trich la, and, like all these forms, is sold dried. 



The speaker referred to agar-agar, which, 

 on Wiesner's authority, is said to come from 

 different species in different regions. That 

 of Ceylon is from Gracilaria lichenoides, that 

 of Java from Eitcheuma spinosum, while the 

 Japanese variety is furnished by Gelidium 

 corneurn and cartilagineum and Gloiopeltis 

 tenax. Agar, in addition to its uses as a 

 culture medium in bacteriological research, is 

 said to be employed sometimes as an adulter- 

 ant in the jellies of commerce, where it may 

 be recognized by the siliceous frustiiles of 

 diatoms, etc.. from which it is never free. 



Other forms of Elorideje are used as food- 

 stuffs, attention being called to their figures 

 in a Japanese popular work on the useful 

 plants of Japan. 



In regard to the food value of alg« it ap- 

 pears that many of them, especially the blue- 

 green forms, contain a very high percentage 

 of proteids, though not much else of value. 

 The gelatinifying substances obtained from 

 the red forms appears to be a substance called 

 gelose, which is similar to. or identical with, 

 the pectic substances so commonly found 

 either deposited in the middle lamella of the 

 cells of higher plants, or in the walls them- 

 selves. Mention was incidentally made of the 



