220 



POPULAR HISTORY OP LICHENS. 



rimose, areolate-verrucose form, which is both saxicolous and 

 corticolous in its habitat, with a rugose, white-pruinose apo- 

 thecium, is the Lecanora paretta of older authors (E. B. 727) . 

 Its specific name is said to be derived from its having been 

 for ages known in Prance as the " Perelle d'Auvergne," on 

 account of its yielding, on ammoniacal maceration, a fine 

 orchill, called the " Orseille d'Auvergne."" This pigment was 

 prepared chiefly at St. Flour and Limoges, and the Lichen 

 was collected by the peasantry of Auvergne, Limousin, Lan- 

 guedoc, Provence, Lyons, and other districts of southern 

 Prance. Manufacturers distinguished two varieties, white 

 and grey, depending chiefly on the maturity and purity of 

 the plant, the latter being preferred. The operation of ma- 

 ceration or preparation extended over ten or twelve days, 

 and consisted essentially in the steeping of the Lichen, 

 ground into a pulp, in stale urine, — the addition of lime, and 

 sometimes alkalies, — and the moulding of the mass into pa- 

 rallelopipeds or small cakes, like those of litmus. Under the 

 name of " Light Crottle " it has been much used by the 

 Scotch Highlanders to yield an orange or reddish dye for 

 woollen goods ; and, as the common "Crab's-eye Lichen," 

 it appears to have been gathered in the north of England, 

 according to Withering, for the London orchill-maker. We 



