596 
Irish  Moss. 
(Am  Jour.  Pharrn . 
\  December,  1894. 
struck  him  in  the  face,  causing  damage  which  it  was  feared  would 
result  in  the  loss  of  one  or  of  both  eyes.  Prompt  and  skilful  treat- 
ment, however,  warded  off  the  threatening  mischief,  and  no  perma- 
nent injury  resulted. 
The  product  obtained  by  the  action  of  ammonia  on  silver  oxide, 
known  as  "  Berthollet's  Vulminating  Silver,"  is  a  dangerous  article. 
When  dry  it  explodes  violently  on  the  slightest  percussion,  or  even 
when  touched  with  a  feather.  The  black  crystals  having  a  metallic 
lustre  decompose  violently  with  detonation  when  the  liquid  contain, 
ing  them  is  shaken. 
The  exact  composition  of  the  compound  has  not  yet  been  ascer- 
tained. 
IRISH  MOSS. 
By  Thomas  S.  Wiegand. 
A  little  town,  known  as  Jericho,  in  Massachusetts,  seems  to  be  the 
centre  of  this  industry.  We  gather  these  notes  from  a  paper  which 
was  printed  lately  in  the  Boston  Herald. 
Boys,  men  and  women  all  engage  in  the  work,  which  consists  in 
spreading  it  upon  the  beach  prepared  by  raking  all  the  dirt,  stones 
and  driftwood  away,  and  leaving  a  fine  bed  of  white  sand  ;  when  the 
weed  is  first  brought  in  by  the  boats,  each  of  which  gets  about  a 
barrel  and  a  half,  it  is  taken  upon  creels,  a  sort  of  barrow,  and 
spread  out  upon  the  beach  ;  it  is  turned  over  daily  as  in  hay-making, 
for  the  space  of  two  weeks;  each  morning  it  is  washed  in  clean  sea- 
water  (fresh  water  ruins  it);  it  is  then  gradually  bleached,  as  when 
first  gathered  it  is  of  a  light-green  color,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks  becomes  successively  red,  pink,  and  finally  nearly  white. 
Stormy  weather  is  a  great  drawback  to  the  mosser's  work.  Some 
of  the  moss  that  the  storms  tear  loose  and  scatter  upon  the  rocks  is 
gathered  and  classed  as  hand  picked,  bringing  generally  a  quarter 
or  one  half  cent  per  pound  more  than  that  gathered  in  the  usual 
way  for  commerce. 
Should  a  spell  of  rainy  weather  come  on  during  the  season  of 
gathering,  heavy  unbleached  muslin  covers  are  used  to  protect  the 
moss,  which  is  packed  up  in  heaps. 
Two  crops  are  obtained  each  year,  the  first  one  being  the  better ; 
the  late  crop  is  liable  to  be  injured  by  a  little  black  vegetable 
growth  called  glut,  caused,  it  is  said,  by  the  warmer  water  of 
August  days. 
