----
280. _FERN, or BRAKE_ (Pteris aquilina), _is a well-known cryptogamous
plant, which grows wild on heaths, in woods, and in barren places._
Though this plant is an extremely troublesome weed to the farmer, from the
roots penetrating deep into the ground, it is applied to various uses in
rural oeconomy. When cut and properly dried, it serves as litter for horses
and cattle; and it supplies the place of thatch for covering the roofs of
cottages and stacks. Where coal is scarce, it is used for the heating of
ovens and burning of lime-stone.
The _ashes_ of fern, from their yielding a tolerably pure alkali, are
frequently used by manufacturers of glass, particularly in France. And, in
some parts of our own country, the poor people mix these ashes with water,
and form them into round masses which they call _fern balls_. These are
afterwards heated in a fire, and then, with water, are made into a ley for
the scouring of linen. They thus furnish a cheap substitute for soap.
Swine are fond of the roots of fern, and will feed freely upon them. We are
even informed that, with the inhabitants of Palma, one of the Canary
islands, they are sometimes made to supply the place of bread.
It is deserving of remark that, when the root of the fern is cut obliquely
across, it presents a kind of figure of the Imperial or Russian eagle; from
which circumstance Linnæus was induced to name it _Pteris aquilina_, or
"Eagle brake."
281. _The_ LICHENS _constitute a very numerous family of plants, which
grow on the bark of trees, on rocks, stones, and other substances; and
have an indistinct fructification, in scattered wart-like tubercles, or
excrescences, and smooth saucers or shields, in which the seeds are
imbedded._
_Some of them have a powdery appearance, and others are crustaceous,
leaf-like, shrub-like, herbaceous, or gelatinous._
282. _The CALCAREOUS LICHEN_ (Lichen calcareus) _consists of a white
crust with black tubercles._
This plant, which is found on lime-stone rocks in Wales, and the north of
England, is used in dyeing woollen and other cloths a scarlet colour.
283. _CRAB'S-EYE LICHEN_ (Lichen parellus) _is a crustaceous, whitish,
and granulated vegetable substance, with cups of the same colour, which
have a thick and blunt border._
From this lichen, which is found on rocks and stones in mountainous
countries, and sometimes on stones near the sea-shore, is prepared the
bluish pigment called _litmus_. It is chiefly collected from rocks in the
north of England, packed in casks, and sent to London for sale.
284. _TARTAREOUS LICHEN_ (Lichen tartareus) _is a whitish, crustaceous,
vegetable production, with yellow cups or shields, which have a whitish
border._
The inhabitants of the Highlands of Scotland gather this species of lichen
from the rocks, and, after cleaning, and some further preparation, which is
kept a secret by the manufacturers, they form it into cakes. These, when
dried, are pulverized, and sold to dyers by the name of _cudbear_, which is
a corruption of Cuthbert, the name of its inventor. In conjunction with
alum, the powder of the tartareous lichen is used in dyeing scarlet, and
also for striking a purple dye; but the colour produced by it is not very
permanent.
285. _ARCHELL, or PURPLE ROCK LICHEN_ (Lichen omphalodes), _is a
vegetable production, of somewhat crustaceous consistence, and leaf-like
form; the segments with many lobes, and of dark purplish brown colour,
with dull purple saucers._
This kind of lichen grows upon rocks on the high stony moors of several
parts of England, Wales, and Scotland. When properly prepared, it imparts
to woollen cloth a reddish brown colour, or a dull but durable crimson. If
wool that has been dyed with it be dipped into a blue vat, it will acquire
a beautiful purple tinge. It is sometimes used as a styptic; and was
formerly applied as a remedy in inflammatory fevers and other complaints;
but, in the latter respect, it is now entirely neglected.
286. _ORCHALL, or DYER'S LICHEN_ (Lichen rocella), _is a somewhat
crustaceous and shrub-like vegetable production, of nearly cylindrical
form, solid, without leaves, but little branched, and with blackish brown
alternate tubercles._
In the Canary and Cape de Verd Islands, as well as in the Grecian
Archipelago, orchall is found in great abundance. It likewise grows in
Guernsey and in some parts of England, and is employed by dyers chiefly for
giving a bloom to other colours. This is effected by passing the dyed cloth
or silk through hot water slightly impregnated with it; but the bloom thus
communicated soon decays after it has been exposed to the air. When
prepared in a peculiar manner, orchall yields a rich purple tincture,
fugitive indeed, but very beautiful. Mixed with a solution of tin it is
said to dye a permanent scarlet. Orchall is the substance generally adopted
for colouring the spirits of thermometers. And it is a remarkable
circumstance that, as exposure to the air destroys its colour upon cloth,
so the exclusion of the air produces, in a few years, a like effect upon
the fluid in those tubes; but on breaking the tubes the colour is restored.
287. _ICELAND LICHEN_ (Lichen islandicus) _is a leafy, membranous,
vegetable production, of brownish green colour, jagged at the edges, and
fringed, having large and purplish brown saucers or shields._
The name of this lichen is derived from that of the island in which it
chiefly grows. It is, however, also found in the Highlands of Scotland, and
in some of the northern parts both of England and Wales.
It abounds with nutritious mucilage; and, after having been steeped in
water to extract its bitter and laxative qualities, it is sometimes used as
medicine in coughs and consumptions. One ounce of Iceland lichen, boiled in
a pint of water, yields about seven ounces of mucilage. The inhabitants of
Iceland prepare from it a kind of gruel, which they mix with milk. They
also boil it in several waters, and then dry and make it into bread. In
Germany a durable brown dye is made by means of it; and, under another mode
of preparation, it imparts an excellent black tinge to white woollen yarn.
288. _BLADDER FUCUS_ (Fucus vesiculosus) _is a species of sea-weed, of
flat shape, with a middle rib, the edges entire, forked, and sometimes
tumid at the ends, and furnished with several air bladders imbedded in
the substance of the plant._
By far the most important application of this, one of the commonest of all
our marine plants, is for the making of _kelp_, which, in Scotland, affords
employment to many industrious families. So lucrative and so highly
esteemed is the bladder fucus, and some other plants nearly allied to it,
that the natives of several parts of the Western Islands have rolled large
masses of stone into the sea, with a view to promote and extend their
growth.
For the preparation of kelp these plants are dried, by exposure for some
time to the sun and air. They are then burnt by degrees in a kelp furnace,
which is generally a round hole dug in the earth. When the furnace is
nearly filled with the remains of the burnt sea-weeds, the whole is briskly
agitated with a rake or hook, till it is compacted, or becomes of a shining
glutinous consistence, in appearance not unlike melted iron. It is then
allowed to cool, and is afterwards placed in storehouses for exportation.
In this state it is an impure kind of carbonat of soda. In the Orkney
Islands every consideration is sacrificed to the making of kelp, nearly
3,000 tons of which are annually sent to market and sold at Leith,
Newcastle, and other places, at the rate of from seven to ten pounds per
ton of twenty-one hundred weight.
The inhabitants of Gothland boil this plant with coarse meal, as food for
swine; and the poorer classes of Scania thatch their cottages with it, and
also employ it as fuel. In the Hebrides it is customary to dry cheese,
without using any salt, by covering it with the ashes of the bladder fucus,
which abound in saline particles. This and other sea-weeds serve as a
winter food for cattle, which regularly frequent the shores for them at the
ebb of the tide: they are also used as manure for land.
A soapy liquor which is found in the bladders of this plant is sometimes
externally applied as a medicine for dispersing scrofulous and scorbutic
swellings, by simply bruising them in the hand and rubbing them on the
parts affected. When this plant is calcined or burnt in the open air, a
black and saline powder is produced, which, under the name of _vegetable
æthiops_, has been recommended as a dentrifice, and for other uses.
289. _EATABLE WINGED FUCUS, or BLADDERLOCKS_ (Fucus esculentus), _is a
simple, undivided, and sword-shaped sea-weed, which is olive-coloured,
and sometime several yards in length_. _Its stem is four-cornered, runs
through the whole length of the leaf, and is winged at the base._
This plant, which is very common on some of the shores of Scotland, and
also on those of Cornwall, and several parts of North Wales, is a grateful
food to cattle; and its stalk, when boiled, constitutes a very favourite
dish in Scotland. The proper season for gathering it is the month of
September, when it is in higher perfection than at any other time of the
year.
290. _SWEET FUCUS_ (Fucus saccharinus) _is a simple, undivided, and
sword-shaped sea-weed, without any rib, of leathery consistence, and
tawny green colour; and frequently five or six feet in length_. _Its
stalk is round and hard._
This plant abounds on all our sea-shores: and, if slightly washed from the
sea-water, and dried in the air, it becomes covered with a sweet powdery
efflorescence. It is edible either in a raw state, or boiled as a pot-herb.
Sometimes it is hung up to serve the purpose of an hygrometer, which it
does in some degree by becoming flaccid during a moist state of the
atmosphere, and hard in dry weather.
291. _DULSE, or RED PALMATE FUCUS_ (Fucus palmatus), _is a flat,
membranous, and hand-shaped, sea-weed, of brownish crimson colour, smooth
on both sides, and without any mid-rib._
In the markets of Edinburgh, and other parts of Scotland, this plant, which
is common on most of the British shores, is exposed for sale as an article
of food. After having been washed in fresh water, it is eaten raw, by
itself, in salad, or by poor people with other provisions. Sometimes it is
boiled and used as a pot-herb. If gradually dried, it gives out a whitish
powdery substance, which covers the whole plant, and has a sweet and
agreeable taste, somewhat resembling that of violets. In this state it is
frequently packed in casks for exportation. Some persons chew it as
tobacco. In Scotland it is occasionally used as a medicine, and it is
supposed to sweeten the breath and destroy worms.
292. _GREEN or EDIBLE LAVER_ (Ulva lactuca) _is a thin, membranous,
pellucid, and green vegetable substance, which is found on rocks, stones,
and shells, in the sea and salt-water ditches in nearly all parts of
Great Britain._
Of late years this plant, stewed with lemon juice, has been introduced to
the tables of the luxurious, as a sauce to be eaten with roast meat. Though
in a recent state it has a salt and bitterish flavour, and even when thus
prepared is not always relished at first, yet by habit most persons become
partial to it. The laver which is consumed in London is chiefly prepared in
the west of England, and packed in pots in a state ready for the table.
Some persons use laver medicinally, and it is esteemed wholesome for
scrofulous habits; but it can scarcely be taken in sufficient quantity to
do much good, without having too strong an effect on the bowels.
293. _The MORELL_ (Phallus esculentus, Fig. 84) _is a kind of fungus with
a naked and wrinkled stem, and an egg-shaped head, full of cells on its
external surface._
As an ingredient for thickening and heightening the flavour of sauces and
soups, morells, which are chiefly found in woods and hedges in a loamy
soil, are in great esteem. For this purpose, after they are gathered, they
are strung upon pack-thread to be dried; and, when dry, they may be kept
without injury for many months.
In Germany, the persons employed in gathering morells found that they
always grew most abundantly in woods that had been burnt: and, with a view
of promoting their increase, they were accustomed to set fire to the woods,
until this practice was prohibited by the Government. Useful and palatable
as these plants are, it has been ascertained that, if gathered after having
been exposed for some days to wet weather, they are extremely pernicious.
294. _The TRUFFLE_ (Tuber cibarium) _is a globular, solid, and warty
fungus, without root, which grows at the depth of four or five inches
beneath the surface of the earth, and is from the size of a pea to that
of a potatoe._
This, one of the best of the edible funguses, is chiefly found in hilly
woods and pastures, which have a sandy or clayey bottom; and occurs on the
downs of Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Kent. Truffles are generally discovered
by means of dogs, which are taught to hunt for them by scent; and wherever
they smell one of them, they bark, and scratch it up. In Italy they are
hunted, in somewhat similar manner, by pigs.
Truffles are either served at table roasted in a fresh state like potatoes,
or they are cut into slices and dried, as an ingredient for sauces and
soups. Those that are most delicious are internally of white colour, and
have somewhat the odour of garlic.
In England truffles seldom exceed the weight of four or five ounces; whilst
on the Continent they are known to weigh as much as fifteen or sixteen
ounces each.
295. _The PUFF-BALL_ (Lycoperdon bovista) _is a round kind of fungus,
which is filled with a soft whitish flesh when young, and a fine brown
powder when ripe._
The _powder_ of the puff-ball is sometimes used as a styptic, to prevent
the bleeding of recent wounds. This powder is extremely subtile, and is
very injurious to the eyes. Instances have occurred of persons who, having
had it blown into their face, have thereby been deprived of their sight for
a considerable time; and have also been affected with violent pain and
inflammation.
There is a curious experiment of taking a shilling from the bottom of a
vessel of water, without wetting the hand. This is said to be effected by
strewing a small quantity of the dust of the puff-ball on the surface; it
so strongly repels the fluid as to form a covering for the fingers, and
defend them from the contact of the water.
The fumes of the puff-ball, when burnt, have a powerfully narcotic quality;
and, on this account, they are sometimes used to take the combs from hives
without destroying the bees.
296. _The COMMON MUSHROOM_ (Agaricus campestris) _is a fungus consisting
of a white cylindrical stalk and a convex cover of white or brownish
colour, which has beneath an irregular arrangement of gills, pinky when
young, but afterwards of dark liver colour._
_When it first appears above ground the mushroom is smooth and nearly
globular, and in this state it is called a_ button.
In England mushrooms are in great demand for the table. They are found wild
in parks, and other pastures where the turf has not been ploughed for many
years; and the best time for gathering them is in the months of August and
September.
They are eaten fresh, either stewed or broiled; and are preserved for use
either by drying, by being pickled, or in powder. They are also employed in
making the well-known sauce called mushroom ketchup. As an article of food,
however, mushrooms are by no means wholesome, being so tough, and having so
great a resemblance to soft leather, as to be almost indigestible. This is
particularly the case when they are of large size.
Mushrooms may be raised artificially on beds constructed for the purpose,
even in cellars; for if they have only warmth and moisture, the plants will
vegetate without light; but the most proper situations for them are under
sheds in the open air. The plants thus grown, however, have more toughness
than such as grow wild in the fields; and, in other respects, are much
inferior to them.
297. There is a kind of mushroom (_Agaricus georgii_) which is yellowish,
with yellowish white gills, and when full grown is sometimes so large as to
measure eighteen inches across. This is occasionally eaten, but, in many
instances, the use of it has been attended with injurious consequences.
298. In Covent Garden market a tall and spongy kind of mushroom (_Agaricus
procerus_), with white gills, and a large horizontal ring round the stem,
is frequently exposed for sale about the month of September.
299. On hedge-banks, in pastures, and in what are called fairy-rings, there
is a species of mushroom (_Agaricus orcades_), with brownish or watery
white gills, two or four in a set, a pale brown, convex, and irregular
cover, and a whitish stem. These are considered by many persons to be the
_champignons_ of the French cooks. They have a much higher flavour than the
common mushroom: but from their leathery nature are indigestible, except in
the form of powder, with sauces, or in ketchup, in all of which they are
very admirable.
With respect to the plants of the mushroom tribe, it ought to be observed
that, though several of them are edible, many are extremely poisonous.
Instances of the fatal effects arising from an indiscriminate adoption of
them are innumerable. Great caution, therefore, is requisite that such only
shall be used as are ascertained to be wholesome, particularly as, in many
instances, the poisonous species can scarcely be distinguished by the eye
from such as are innoxious. In cases of injury arising from poisonous
funguses, the best remedy that can be administered is an emetic.
300. _SPUNK, or TOUCHWOOD_ (Boletus igniarius), _is a fungus somewhat
shaped like a horse's hoof, with pores on the under side, and the upper
part very hard and smooth, but marked with circular bands or ridges of
different colours._
_It grows horizontally on the trunks and large branches of several kinds
of trees, when old and decayed._
In Germany, and in some parts of England, this fungus is used as tinder,
for which, on account of its readily catching fire, it is well adapted. It
is prepared by being boiled in a strong ley, dried, and again boiled in a
solution of salt-petre. In Franconia pieces of the inner substance of the
spunk are beaten so as to resemble leather, and are sewed together for
making garments. The inhabitants of Lapland frequently burn it about their
cottages, to keep off a species of gad-fly which is peculiarly injurious to
the young rein-deer.
This fungus is often employed as a styptic for the stopping of blood. When
intended for this use, the exterior hard substance is pared off, and the
coat underneath is separated from the porous part, and well beaten with a
hammer, until it becomes pliable. Thus prepared it is kept dry, in slices
of convenient size, for use; and, although it is not so much esteemed in
this country as it was some years ago, many of the continental surgeons
have a very high opinion of its efficacy.