The suburban citizen., 1901-09-21
THE EDIBLE SEA NOISES
ONE RESOURCE AGAINST A FAIL
ING FOOD SUPPLY.

that the time is not far of when the
growing population of the world will
pass the available food supply, he
comes less plausible every day
through the growth OF our knowledge
respecting the possibility Of utilizing
the resources OF the sea. That the
amount of fish food is ineXhaustible
has long been knows. 1t is now be-
coming evident that in the humble
sea-weed humanity has n store Of
wholesome and pala,able food which
will equal any demand for centuries
vet to come In the last five years
considerable progress has been made
in the use OF the algac and other forms
cf marine vegetation. Experiments
thus far have simply followed the
llacs laid down by the peasantry of
ireland and Scotland. Here from
time immemorial there has been a
large use of at least ten different
genera of sea-mosses, which are usu-
ally summed up under the term Irish
moss The older and better word Is
dulse which is an abbreviated form
from two Celtic words. meaning water
leaf. Tha most popular dulse is the
kind ToIud near Carragheen, in the
Waterford district Of Ireland. From
the name Of the town has come the
name of The moss. "carragheen,' and
from this in turn the scientific name
for the mucilage "cana2eenin," which
is a leading constituent Of the leaf.
Next to carragheen are the craw-
dulSe, the sand-dulse, and the pepper
Gulse or Northern Ireland and West
ern Scotland. These contain mucilage,
and also small amounts of starch. dl-
gestible cellulose, ana an appreciable
amount Of essential oil. The pepper
dulse of Scotland, when carefully
dried and stored, has peasant, warm
flavor, which is supposed TO be Of
medicinal virtue.
In Iceland several varieties Of dulse
are largely used 10y the people, and
are known as Iceland moss. The
mucilage is hero mingled with small
percentage of albumeno'ds, which rem
der it better food than the car
ragheen. During the first half Of the
century Iceland moss was regarded as
specific for coughs ana colds, and
large quantities were exported to
Great Britain and the United States.
Even to-day. in old fashioned drug
stores and conservative confectionery
shops, Iceland moss drops and Iceland
moss candy may be had for those
suffering from pulmonary troubles.
Dulse in the British Isles is used in
four ways The first is to eat it raw.
This practice is confined chiefly 10
the Irish proper. Employed in this
manner, it is supposed to purify the
blood and TO prevent fevers. The sec
ond mode is TO dry it in the sun and
afterwards to boil it for a long period,
either alone or with herbs. a third is
to pickle it, and fourth is to grind it,
boil, and extract the mucilage.
In the far East this class Of plants
Is utilized on a much larger scale. The
Chinese, Koreans, japanese, Siberians,
and even the Aleutes consume vast
qualities. The oldest use to which it
is put is to cut it up, boil, and ferment
the resulting liquor. 1t produces
mild beer OF rather pleasant flavor
and very slightly intoxicating. The
Japanese have given the matter great
thought and have developed several
profitable industries upon these mosses
as a basis. In one, the mOsses are
cleaned, maCerated rubbed through
sieyes, and the resulting milky fluid
boiled down TO what they call vege-
table gelatin, 1t has been styled
marine pectin by English ana Ameri-
can officers and is referred to in many
consular reports. 1t is put up in long
sticks like mHcarOni, and is translucent
white in tint, brittle in texture, odor-
less, and always colorlcss in appear
ance. 1t is used in made dishes,
desserts, and above ull in confection-
cry. In another industry the mucilage'
is extracted and put upon the market
in small cakes, which sell at about
the same price as starch-from one to
three cents a pound. Even at the irst
figure, one cent. there is Il reasonable
profit TO the manufacturer.
In The Imperial Book | pon Foods
curious volume issued hy the Chin
esc Government over forty MOSES and
sea lichens are recommended for food
purposes. and Instructions given re-
specting their preparation. In general
they are washed so as 70 remove all
sand and shells. They are then cut
up and stored. When they are 10 be
used they are boiled for several hours
and strained. The filrate is not
thrown away, but is treated with an
other preparation, again filtered, and
the liquid exaporuted. The first filtra-
tion saves about twenty-five per cent,
and the second forty per cent. The
solid from the first operation ranges
from pure mucilage to a mucilage
mixed with albummoids and starch.
The solid from the second operation
contains Il little mucilage ana starch.
considerable soluble starch, and the
major part of dextrine and grape
sugar.
In otIp own pountrv n .u,au I,,t