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434 
sea. Tlius Odonthalia dentata and Rhodomenia cristata are confined to the 
northern parts of Great Britain, while many others are peculiar to the southern 
parts ; and, on the contrary, many are cosmopolites of an unbounded range, 
such as Codium and Ulvacese. The latter thrive best in the polar and tem- 
perate zones, Dictyotese increase as we approach the equator, Fuci par- 
ticularly flourish between the parallels of 55® and 44®, and, according 
to Lamouroux, rarely approach the equator nearer than 36®. The articu- 
lated or imperfectly formed fresh- water Algse are nearly confined to the 
temperate and northern parts of the world, being almost unknown or unde- 
scribed from within the tropics. The number of species is scarcely capable of 
being estimated. 
Properties. For what wise purpose the Creator has filled the sea and 
the rivers with countless myriads of these plants, so that the Flora of the deep 
waters is as extensive as that of dry land, we can only conjecture ; the uses to 
which they are applied by man are, doubtless, of but secondary consideration ; 
and yet they are of no little importance in the manufactures and domestic eco- 
nomy of the human race. Greville describes them thus (Algce BritanniccB 
xix.) : — 
“ Rhodomenia palmata, the dulse of the Scots, dillesk of the Irish, and 
saccharine !jFucus of the Icelanders, is consumed in considerable quantities 
throughout the maritime countries of the north of Europe, and in the Grecian 
Archipelago ; Iridaea edulis is still occasionally used, both in Scotland and the 
south-west of England. Porphyra laciniata and vulgaris is stewed, and brought 
to om* tables as a luxuiy under the name of Laver ; and even the Ulva latis- 
tima, or green Laver, is not slighted in the absence of the Porphyi'ae. Ente- 
somorpha compressa, a common species on our shores, is regarded, according 
to Gaudichaud, as an esculent by the Sandwich Islanders. Laurentia pinna- 
tifida, distinguished for its pungency, and the young stalks and fronds of 
Laminaria digitata (the former called Pepperdulse, the latter Tangle), were 
often eaten in Scotland ; and even now, though rarely, the old cry, ‘ Buy 
dulse and tangle,’ may be heard in the streets of Edinburgh. When strip- 
ped of the thin part, the beautiful Alaria esculenta forms a part of the simple 
We of the poorer classes of Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Denmark, and the 
Faroe Islands. 
“To go further from home, we find the large Laminaria potatorum of Aus- 
tralia furnishing the aborigines with a proportion of their ‘ instruments, vessels, 
and food.’ On the authority of Bory de St. Vincent, the DurviUea utilis and 
other Laminarieae constitute an equally important resource to the poor on the 
west coast of South America. In Asia, several species of Gelidium are made 
use of to render more palatable the hot and biting condiments of the East. 
Some undetermined species of this genus also furnish the materials of which 
the edible swallows’ nests are composed. It is remarked by Lamouroux, that 
three species of swallow construct edible nests, two of which build at a distance 
from the sea-coast, and use the sea- weed only as a cement for other matters. 
The nests of the third are consequently most esteemed, and sold for nearly 
their weight in gold. GraciUaria lichenoides is highly valued for food in 
Ceylon and other parts of the East, and bears a great resem^blance to Gracil- 
laria compressa, a species recently discovered on the British shores, and which 
seems to be httle inferior to it ; for my friend Mrs. Griffiths tried it as a 
pickle and preserve, and in both ways found it excellent. 
“ It is not to mankind alone that marine Algae have furnished luxuries, or 
resources in times of scarcity. Several species are gi*eedily sought after by 
cattle, especially in the north of Europe. Rhodomenia palmata is so great a 
favourite with sheep and goats, that Bishop Gunner named it Fucus ovinus. 
In some of the Scottish islands, horses, cattle, and sheep, feed chiefly upcn 
