298 
ON THE GATHERING AND CURING OF 
six cases, the mortality being one in 1000. Among founders, tap-makers, lamp-makers, 
workers in bronze, sham jewelry, and copper utensils, the number of whom was 14,000, 
there were seven cases; the mortality was one in 2000. Among opticians, makers of 
mathematical instruments, dry polishers, stampers, turners, and musical instrument 
makers, the number of whom was 5650, there w r as no case at all. Thus the rate of 
mortality diminished in proportion as the workmen were more exclusively employed in 
the manipulation of copper. In other manufactures the mortality was from ten to forty 
times greater. Further testimony in favour of the preservative action of copper was 
supplied by the society known as the Bon Accord, which was founded in 1819, and en¬ 
tirely composed of workers in bronze, and the medical registers of which are thoroughly 
well kept. During the whole of the five visitations of cholera, this society, the mem¬ 
bers of which were scattered in quarters where the epidemic raged with the greatest 
virulence, had not only not had a single death, but had been called upon to pay only 
for 106 days of sickness, divided among ten members of the society. Facts supporting 
the theory were also supplied from other sources. The conclusion draw'n from this 
statement was, that if further inquiries established the truth of the theory exceedingly 
valuable results, from a hygienic point of view, would follow. 
ON THE GATHERING AND CURING OF CARRAGEEN IN MASSA¬ 
CHUSETTS. 
BY G. HUBERT BATES, SCITUATE, MASS. 
Suborder: Rhodospermea, family Spongiocarpece, Harvey. The generic name, Chon- 
drus, is characteristic of the substance of the frond, being derived from the Greek word 
signifying cartilage. p . 
Habitat: Rocks in the sea. Perennial; spring. Root, a disk throwing tufts of many 
fronds, which are from two to twelve inches high, very narrow and subcylindrical at 
base, but immediately becoming flat, generally dilating from the base till it becomes 
three or four lines wide, and then dividing repeatedly and dichotomously (by pairs), 
each division spreading, becoming narrower than the preceding one, and taking place at 
shorter intervals. The summits are bifid, the segments varying greatly in length, 
rounded or acute, straight or curved, and often twisted in such a manner as to give the 
curled appearance denoted by the specific name crispus. “ Fructification roundish or 
roundish-oval, subhemispherical capsules imbedded in the disk of the frond, prominent 
on one side and producing a concavity on the other, containing a mass of minute, 
roundish red seeds.” Its colour is a deep purple-brown, often tinged with purplish-red, 
paler at the summit, and becoming greenish and at length yellowish-white as the season 
advances. 
This is the Proteus of marine Algee. The varieties are innumerable, and pass into 
one another so insensibly that it is almost impossible to define them. There is great 
range in regard to the width of the frond. Whenever the plant grows more or less ex¬ 
posed to fresh water, a still greater change is wrought in its appearance. The main di¬ 
visions are much broader, fewer, and exceedingly irregular, while the margin and extre¬ 
mity are beset with such a vast number of small segments that the whole suggests the 
idea of monstrosity. In such specimens the frond, when held between the eye and the 
light, is thinner, more transparent, and frequently mottled with green. It occasionally 
happens that the margin is somewhat raised, so as to render the frond slightly chan¬ 
nelled, but seldom so much as to allow of its being mistaken for C. mammillosus. The 
pink seeds are very conspicuous when held between the eye and light. When fully 
ripe, the capsules fall away entirely, and leave the frond full of holes. Greville con¬ 
cludes his admirable description—parts of which are included in the above—by remark¬ 
ing that “ it is difficult, in words, to convey any idea of the variableness of this species.” 
The varied uses of carrageen in manufactures make it an article of considerable im¬ 
portance ; and the present high prices of glue and isinglass, for which it is an excellent 
substitute, have created a demand for it heretofore unknown. Up to about the year 
1848 all the carrageen consumed in this country was imported from Ireland, which gave 
it the popular name of Irish moss. It was collected on the southern and western shores 
