Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-25
OCEAN VEG ETATIoN.
Edible soaweed Strange Fish Lines and
the Happy Polypes.

less plants that grow IN the water, anu
that are commonly called seaweed, under
the general term or algc. There are
great variety Of these plants. Some Of
them are like particles of dust; others
spread out to a size and strength to com
pare with hawsers, though they dontIook
much like hawsers.
There are many curious and interesting
things to be told of seaweeds, and the
number OF people who would make study
Of such vegetation would be greater than
tits if writer's on the subject would give
names 70 the plants which could be- re-
membered without an intimate knowl-
edge Of Latin. Thus, TO begin with the
smallest plants. il is asserted that the Red
Sea rst its name from the prodigious
quantity OF "a small red plant that spreads
over the water uu0er certain clrcuil-
stances. a much noe common variety
of the marine plants Is tuund IN great
ounutities around The coast OF the British
lslands. n the streets OF Edinburgh YOU
will see the vendors going up and down
CRYING: ..Dulse and tankle." They carry
great punches Of the dull-red leaves, which
are sold for food. They are 0n sale in this
country 10 limited extent, and the taste
Is not all bad. Usually you viii find
the under side OF the leaf and these give
a flavor to the leaf that is greatly liked
The leaves are eaten either raw or cooked
as greens or IN soups. They are also used
IN place of tobacco. The smoke of a cigar
rolled from dulse leaves is pleasant and
healthful.
A very abundant sort Of weed found in
various forms almost all over the world Is
the bladder wrack. II is DISTINGUISHED
a.. Hon FRI - n
lists call them. which are supported in toe
water by air bl8dders. There is legend
that great many years ago
crew OF shpWrecked sailors
built IRE of this weed, which
they found along shore. When the fire
trad died out they found dark cake where
she ashes should have been, and IN won
der carried il away with them. chem
Ist found that the cake WAS valuable
soda, and formed company to dig pits
and burn the weed to obtain this soda,
which bore the name Of kelp. The poor
working people along shore could not un-
derstaud this new method Of handling the
weed they used for manuring their fields.
The thick black smoke which rose from
the pits was foul, and the company, Ike
modern companies engaged in useful oc-
equations, was brutaNy careless OF the
feelings Of the people around its works,
80 the people rose up and destroyed the
eits. Arrests and suits followed, and
learned counsel told learned iurist that
the suffOcating smoke would destroy the
sheep and cattle OF the neighb0rhOOd,
drive the fsh from the coasts, and create
80 epidemic among the populace. But
they were mistaken. When the people
got to know more about Il 10000 people
engaged in the Orkneys alone in gathering
the weed that came to be called kelp, and
the Orkney man in foreign land grew
b0mesck when he recalled the wild crags
o. his native coast and the rocks that COW
cred the beach when the tide was low, for
DC saw a picture Of old comrades step
ping from rock to rock cutting the long
fTonds of kelp from their roots, while
women and children, with song and jest
and laughter, gathered the harvest into
heaps.
To illustrate how and where this weed
grows / can tell you an incident. Many
years ago engineers undertook the job OF
building a lighthouse on a rock at the
mouth OF the FIRTH Of Forth. The rock
was about 20 by 90 feet large, and was
bare only at the lowest ebb Of spring
tides. At ordinary low tides it could De
seen by the venturesome near the surface
like the back of some great green sea
monster with long hair that waved up and
down in the water. The first seasons
work Of the men sufiiced only 10 clear and
level the surface Of the rock. In Novem.
Der the work was abandoned, and not un-
I'll May l did the weather moderate so that
they could begin again. When they got
to the rock on their first trip they found
that the surface which they had left clean
and level was a mass Of rank vegetation
as long and luXuriant as that which they
had found when they first began work
And vet the force of the waves dashed
against that rock was such that pieces OF
granite were shattered and great iron bars
were twisted apart like pine sticks.
The rocky shores OF the coasts @
Europe are famous for their luxurian
growths of seawegd. One variety IL
known as Lucky Minny's lines. Tn
arms. or frOuds. grow 10 a length Of A.
feet. When the outer bark and gelatinnu
hiaments are removed the frond is tOHnC
70 be composed OF a single tilament like
thread Of silk, that grows in coil, form
ing tube, the edges OF the iilament ad
herring 10 each other. This is uncOiled b.
the coast people, and when braided up il
a fOur-ply cord makes fish line OF extra
Ordinary strength.
Do you happen 20 carry a pocket-knif
with buCkhOrn handle? An, IL is o
English make, too. IL is a very goo
knife, but that handle is as innocent O
buckhorn as a lead-pencil is Of lead. TIL
rough sides, which every one must ad
Ia found, ] believe. exclusively on thu
Scotland coast IL ia 70 much like buck
hOrr when cleaned and the cut edges pol
ished that experts are often deceived. An
other weed, called grass wrack, is 81
much Ike hair that IL takes its place II
mattresses and cushions beside the ger
uine article.
In the mighty waves that dash on IN
rocks Of Terra del FuegO after rollin
across an almost limitless ocean there
"A kind 81 weed with a stem that reache
the surface through 400 feet of water. |
Is a bladder wrack. Under its leaves
Darwin says.there are numerous kinds q
fish and hiyalves that could get an exist
ence nowhere else. Great nOcks OF sea
gulls. divers, and other birds subsist o
the fish, rs well as seals and offers. Will
from tina animals, fish and birds IA
wretched Inhabitants Of that inhospitabl
country gain living. Without the ses
weed almost the whole animal kingdor
OF that part Of the world would cease {
exist.
Another curious variety OF the SOutl
ern sraweed is the gigantic LessoniW Q
the Falkland islands. 1t has body {
perhaps eight feet long an
n foot In diameter, "a sort q
log, from one end of which trailin
vines grow out In ali directions. Tn
wool ~ 81 Urn n ril