EDIBLE MOSSES. 



379 



vesiculosus) forms the chief support of horses and cattle in the 

 •winter months. F. serratus is similarly employed in Norway. 



The Laminaria saccJiarina is interesting from the fact of its 

 containing sugar. It is highly esteemed in Japan, where it is 

 extensively used as an article of diet, being first washed in cold 

 water and then boiled in milk or broth. 



Careageeis', or Ieish E-ock Moss, S])li(jeroccus (Cliondus) 

 crispus, abounds on the Western Coast of Ireland, round the 

 Orkneys, Hebrides, Scilly Islands, &c. It is purplish white, and 

 nearly transparent, and is largely imported to feed cattle and pigs in 

 Yorkshire. It is also used for dressing the warp of webs in the 

 loom, and mixing with the pulp for sizing paper in the vat. It 

 swells up like tragacanth in water ; and, by long decoction, aliords 

 a considerable quantity of a light, nutritious, but nauseous jelly. 

 It is sometimes sold as pearl moss, and is employed in the place 

 of gelatine or isinglass for preparing blanc-manges, jellies, &c. 

 It fetches about £7 the ton. 



Agae-agae, a sort of edible sea-weed, or tripe de roche, is 

 found growing on the rocks about the eastern islands that are 

 covered by the tide. It is much used for making a kind of jelly, 

 which is highly esteemed both by Europeans and natives for the 

 delicacy of its flavor. The first quality is worth about 30s. the 

 picul (iSSlbs.). An inferior kind is collected on the submerged 

 banks in the neighbourhood of Macassar (Celebes), by the Bajow 

 Laut, or Sea G-ipsies. It is also collected on the rocks about the 

 settlement of Singapore, for export to China, where it is much used 

 as a size for stiff'ening silks and for making jellies. It constitutes 

 the bulk of the cargoes of the Chinese junks on their return 

 voyage. The quantity shipped from Singapore is about 10,000 

 piculs (12,500 tons) annually. 



Iceland Moss (Cetraria islandicd) combines valuable ali- 

 mentary and medicinal properties. It is imported in bags and 

 barrels from Hamburg and Gothenburg, and is said to be the 

 produce of Norway and Iceland. The quantity consumed varies ; 

 in 1836, 20,599 lbs. paid duty ; in 1840, 6,462 lbs. In Carniola, 

 swine, oxen, and horses, are fattened on it. Boiled in water or milk, 

 and flavored to the palate with sugar, wine, and aromatics, it 

 forms a very agreeable diet for invalids. 



Ceylon Moss {^Gracelaria, or Gigartina, lichenoides), a small 

 and delicate fucus, is well known for the amylaceous property it 

 possesses, and the large proportion of true starch it fur- 

 nishes. The fronds are filiform ; the filaments much branched, 

 and of a light purple color. It grows abundantly in the large lake 

 or back-water which extends between Putlam and Calpentyr, 

 Ceylon. It is collected by the natives principally during the 

 south-west monsoon, when it becomes separated by the agitation 

 of the water. The moss is spread on mats and dried in the sun 

 for two or three days. It is then washed several times in fresh 

 water, and again exposed to the sun, which bleaches it, after which 

 it is collected in heaps for exportation. 



