, about six
parts of the same to one of flesh-forming food; therefore its jelly is
found to be specially sustaining to persons suffering from
pulmonary consumption, with an excessive waste of the bodily heat.
At one time the Irish Moss fetched as high a price as half-a-crown
for the pound. It bears the botanical name of _Chondrus crispus_,
and varies much in size and colour. When growing in small pools, it
is shallow, pale, and stunted; whilst when found at the bottom of a
deep pool, or in the shadow of a great rock, it occurs in dense
masses of rich ruddy purple, with reddish green thick fronds.

Iceland Moss contains the form of starch called "lichenin." It is a
British lichen found especially in Wales and Scotland. Most
probably the Icelanders were the first to learn its helpful properties.
In two kinds of pulmonary consumption this lichen best promotes a
cure-that with active bleeding from the lungs, and that with profuse
purulent expectoration. The Icelanders boil the Moss in broth, or dry
it in cakes used as bread. They likewise make gruel of it mixed
[501] with milk: but the first decoction of it in water, being
purgative, is always thrown away. An ounce of the Iceland Moss
boiled for a quarter-of-an-hour in a pint of milk, or water, will yield
seven ounces of thick mucilage. This has been found particularly
useful in dysentery. Also contained in the Moss are cetrarin,
uncrystallizable sugar, gum, and green wax; with potash, and
phosphate of lime. It affords help in diabetes, and for general
atrophy; being given also in powder, or syrup, or mixed with
chocolate. Francatelli directs for making _Iceland Moss Jelly_. Boil
four ounces of the Moss in one quart of water: then add the juice of
two lemons, and a bit of the rind, with four ounces of sugar (and
perhaps a gill of sherry?). Boil up and remove the scum from the
surface. Strain the jelly through a muslin bag into a basin, and set it
aside to become cold. It may be eaten thus, but it is more efficacious
when taken warm. A Sea-Moss, the _Lichen marinum_, is "a singular
remedy to strengthen the weakness of the back." It is called
"Oister-green."

In New England the generic term "Moss" is a cant word signifying
money: perhaps as a contraction of Mopuses, or as a play on the
proverb, "a rolling stone gathers no moss."

The Dulse is used in Scotland and Ireland both as food and
medicine. Botanically it bears the name of _Iridea edulis_, or
_Rhodymenia palmata_