ture, having the appearance of fructification in the form of scutellæ, or flat round bodies growing from the sides or extremities of these filaments. This order or division comprehends the hairy tree-mosses, or usnea of Dillenius and Hill; several of the species of the 5th order of lichens of Micheli; and the lichenes filamentosi of Linneus. Dr. Dillenius describes 16 species under the term usnea, several of which are found in England, though some of them, as the common usnea of the shops, but very sparingly, and none of them in any considerable plenty. The thick woods in many other parts of Europe, and the rest of the globe, afford them in great plenty. They hang from the branches of various kinds of trees, like large tufts of hair, to a considerable length: some species grow several feet long. The rocks on the tops of high mountains afford several kinds. They are of various colours; some whitish, ash-coloured, others grey or blackish, and 2 or 3 species have a yellow or orange hue. The commentators in general agreed in making the bryon* of Dioscorides one of these hairy tree-mosses, which they called usnea. No wonder therefore that at the 'restoration of letters it became a matter of controversy, which of them was the usnea of the ancients. Dioscorides recommends his as an astringent; and tells us, that the best grew upon the cedar; but that from whatever tree it was gathered, the whitest and most fragrant was preferable to the black.' The several usneæ would doubtless in different countries be found upon different trees. In Italy, that of the larch-tree was the most odoriferous; and on that account Matthiolus preferred it to all others. That kind, which at length obtained a place in the shops as the usnea of the ancients, was a species commonly found in our countries on old oaks and other trees, and is called by Dillenius stringy tree-moss, or usnea of the shops. Many excellent virtues have been ascribed to it, on a supposition of its being the true usnea; but it does not appear to have deserved them: and the present practice, at least in England, has quite expunged it, and that perhaps very justly. Dr. Dillenius is evidently of opinion however, that this common usnea, though it obtained a place in the shops as such, is not the bryon of Dioscorides and Pliny, or the phaseon of Theophrastus, since he has applied these names from those fathers of botany to another species, which he calls the beard § usnea. Nor does either of these species appear to be * Lib. i. c. 20. See this subject largely discussed in Bodæus à Stapel Comment. in Theoph. p. 156 et seq.-Orig. ↑ Opera omnia à C. B. ed. 1598. p. 64.-Orig. Usnea vulgaris loris longis implexis Hist. Musc. p. 56. Lichen plicatus Lin. Sp. Pl. 1154. · Muscus arboreus: usnea officin. C. B. Raii Syn. iii. p. 64.—Orig. § Usnea barbata loris tenuibus fibrosis Hist. Musc. p. 63. Lichen barbatus Lin. Sp. Pl. 1155. Quercus excrementum villosum C. B. p. 422. Bauhin took this to be the true usnea Arabum.Orig. the true usnea of the Arabians, whatever title they may seem to have to it, either from their colour or smell. Bellonius, as he is quoted by Dr. Dillenius, tells us, that the true usnea, or bryon, as he calls it, is sold at Constantinople under the name of usnech; and tells us we are deceived in believing ours to be the true usnea.' Dillenius has therefore described another species,* which he received from the East Indies, from Madegascar, and St. Helen's, as the usnea Arabum. This plant the Indians call saliaga; and Camelli assures us that while fresh it has a very fragrant musk-smell. He adds, that he had himself experienced what Serapio says of it; viz. that a vinous infusion of it restrains fluxes, stops vomiting, strengthens the stomach, and induces sleep. The common usnea of the shops was said to be the basis of that fine perfumed powder, which the French called corps de cypre gris, and which formerly made a great article of trade at Montpelier. We may here observe by the bye, that the usnea cranii humani, which through the influence of superstition formerly obtained a place in the catalogues of the materia medica, does not belong to this division of the lichens. The writers of those times distinguished two kinds of usnea humana, under the names, of crustacea and villosa. Any of the crustaceous lichens, but more properly the common grey-blue pitted lichenoides of Dillenius, was used for the former of these; and as Dale tells us, was held in most esteem. The villosa was a species of the genus of hypnum. Indeed it does not appear that they were in those days very curious in determining the exact kind; and doubtless any moss which happened to grow upon a human skull was sufficient for the purposes designed. 2. LICHENES FRUTICULOSI. Such as consist of a tough flexible matter, formed into ramifications, in some species almost simple, in others resembling small shrubs: in some of the species. the branches are quite solid, in others tubular. This order comprehends the third of Dillenius's genus of coralloides; the whole eladonia of Hill; the 2d, and several species of the 3d order of Haller's lichens; several species of the 5th, and the whole 6th, order of Micheli: and the lichenes. fruticulosi of Linneus. The plants of this genus grow principally on the ground on heaths, forests, and mountainous barren places; except the orcelle, or Canary-weed, which is found upon the rocks on the sea-coast. To this division. belongs the horned moss. It is found with us in rocky barren ground, and on Usnea ceratoides candicans glabra et odorata Hist. Musc. p. 71. Muscus arboreus candicans et odorifer Camelli Raii Hist. iii. Append. p. 3.—Orig. + Coralloides corniculis longioribus et rarioribus. Dillen. Hist. Musc. p. 103. Muscus corniculatus Ger. p. 1372. Park. 1303. Raii Hist. i. p. 112. iii. p. 28. Lichenoides tubulosum cinereum: minus crustaceum minusque ramosum Raii Syn. 3, p. 67.-Orig. old walls not uncommon. It was formerly in great credit as a pectoral: but is now quite in disrepute. The common branched coralline-moss* is one of the most useful plants of all the tribe of lichens. It is pretty frequent with us on our heaths, forests, and mountains. The northern regions afford it in abundance; and there it is peculiarly and singularly useful. It is indeed the very support and foundation of all the Lapland economy, and without which the inhabitants could not sustain their rein-deer in the winter time. Linneus tells us that Lapland affords no vegetables in such plenty as this, and other of the lichens. Plains of several miles extent are totally covered over with it, as if with snow; and where no other plant will even take root, this will thrive and be luxuriant. These dreary and inclement wastes, these terræ damnatæ, as a foreigner would readily call them; these are the Lapland fields and fertile pastures. On this lichen the rein-deer, those sources of all their wealth, feed in the winter time, when it is in its most flourishing condition, and no other vegetable is to be had: with this too they will even become fat. The riches of the Laplanders consist in their number of these cattle they are cloathed with their skins, fed with her flesh, and from their milk they make both butter and cheese. Nature, by the inclemency of their seasons, has almost denied them the cultivation of their earth: they neither sow nor reap; but live a perpetual migratory life, tending their flocks of rein-deer, on which their whole care is centred and employed. The milk of the rein-deer is very remarkably fat and rich: it tastes indeed like cow's milk, with which some butter, and a small quantity of fat or suet, has been intimately united. Dr. Haller suspects that this richness of the milk is owing to the animal's feeding on this moss. Most of the plants of this family are of an astringent quality, which indeed they manifest to the taste. This astringency of their food will doubtless contribute much to that effect. The reindeer are not the only animals that will feed on the coralline moss. The Novaccolæ gather vast quantities of it to fodder their oxen with in the winter. They take the opportunity of raking it together in the rainy seasons when it is tough; for in dry weather it easily crumbles into powder. This they moisten with a little water in the winter season when they use it, and find it excellent fodder. Another of the most remarkable and useful plants of this division is the * Coralloides montanum fruticuli specie ubique candicans Hist. Musc. p. 107. Lichen rangiferinus Lin. Sp. Pl. 1153. Muscus corallinus. Tab. Ger. em.-Orig. † Flor. Lappon. p. 332.—Orig. Eoum. Stirp. Helv. p. 69. N° 38.—Orig. § The Novaccolæ are a people originally sprung from the Finlanders: they fixed themselves im Lapland not long since, and traffic with the old inhabitants.--Orig. is the orchel, or argol, as it is commonly called. This enters more into economical uses among us than any other of the whole genus. How considerable an article it forms in the dyeing trade, in which its uses are various and extensive, is very well known. Its tinging property has been known from ancient times; and some of our most celebrated botanic writers are of opinion, that it was used as a dye even in the days of Theophrastus. That father of botany mentions a fucus, which he says grew on the rocks about the island of Crete; and that they dyed woollen garments of a purple, or rather a red colour, with it. It grows on the rocks by the sea-coast in many parts of the Archipelago, and in the Canary Islands; whence we generally import it, as well as from the Cape Verde, which afford it in plenty. The demand for orchel is so great, that M. Hellot, of the Royal Acad. of Sciences, informs us, they gather yearly on an average, from the isle of Teneriffe 500 quintals, which amounts to 25 ton weight; from the Canary Islands 400 quintals, from Forteventura 300, from Lancerota 300, the same from Gomera, and from Ferro 800. The way of manufacturing the orchel for the uses of dyeing, was for a considerable time a secret in few hands; but it is now done in London, and other parts of Europe, to great perfection. Mr. Ray, from Imperatus, gives a brief account of the process. Micheli has since delivered a more exact detail of it. His at least seems to be the method § which the dyers at Florence used. Fron both these accounts, urine and pot-ash appear to be the principal ingredients used in extracting its colour. Many other plants of this genus contain the same tophaceous matter as the orchel; and on trial have been found to strike a good colour. 3. LICHENES PYXIDATI. Such as consist of a firm tough flexible matter, formed into simple tubular stalks, whose tops are expanded into the form of little cups. This division contains the cup-mosses of authors; the 2d order of coralloides of Dillenius; great part of the first order of lichens in Haller; the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th order in Micheli; and the lichenes schyphiferi of Linneus. `Dr. Hill has constituted a genus entirely of these cup-mosses, under the name of pyxidium. They are common with us on heaths, and other dry and barren places. Some of them are proliferous, even to the 3d degree, and form a very * Coralloides corniculatum fasciculare tinctorium fuci teretis facie Dillen. Hist. Musc. p. 120. Cladonia tophacea Hill. Hist. Pl. p. 93. Fucus capillaris tinctorius Raii Hist. i. p. 74. Lichen (Rocella) fruticulosus solidus aphyllus subramosus tuberculis alternis Lin. Sp. Pl. 1154.-Orig. + L'Art de la Teinture des Lains et des Etoffes de Lain, Paris 1750, p. 543.-Orig. Raii Hist. Pl. i. p. 74.-Orig. § Nova Plant. Gener. p. 78.-Orig. beautiful appearance. Some have tubercles on the edges of the cups, of a beau- 4. LICHENES CRUSTACEI. Such as consist of a dry and friable matter, more or less thick, formed into flat crusts, very closely adhering to whatever they grow upon. Some of the species of this division consist of an exceedingly fine thin crustaceous, or rather as Micheli calls it, farinaceous matter, the fructifications appearing in the form of tubercles. Others consist of a thicker scabrous crust, having the fructifications in the form of little cups, called scutellæ. This division contains the first order of the lichenoides of Dillenius; the 5th, 6th, and 7th orders of Haller's lichens; the lichenes leprosi and crustacei of Linneus; and several of the placodium of Hill. The species are numerous, and most of them very common on rocks, stones, old walls, the bark of trees, old pales, &c. which are commonly covered over with them, in undisturbed places. They form a very agreeable variety, and some of them have a very elegant appearance. Dr. Dillenius describes a species of this order, which he found upon the tops of the mountains in Caernarvonshire in Wales; and which the inhabitants told. him they used as a red dye, and found it preferable to the cork, or arcel, which they call kenkerig. He has entitled it in English, the white tartareous scarletdying lichenoides. He is of opinion that this is the moss which Martin mentions, in his account of the Western Islands of Scotland, under the name of corkir: with which the inhabitants of the island of Sky dye a scarlet colour. They prepare it by drying, powdering it, and then steeping it for 3 weeks in urine. Linneus queries whether this moss be not the same as his lichen calcareus; a species so peculiar to limestone rocks, that wherever that stone occurs among others, it may be distinguished at the first view by this moss growing upon it. This is a singularity which Dr. Dillenius has not mentioned in his moss on the other hand, Linneus does not mention any tinging property in his. Coralloides schyphiforme tuberculis fuscis Hist. Musc. 79. Lichenoides tubulosum pyxidatum cinereum. Raii Syn. iii. p. 68. Pyxidium margine leviter serrato. Hill. Hist. Plant. p. 94.-Orig. + Willis Pharm. Rational, sect. i. cap. 6, de tussi puerorum convulsiva.—Orig. Lichenoides tartareum tinctorium candidum tuberculis atris. Hist. Musc. p. 128.-Orig. § Lichen (calcareus) leprosus candidus tuberculis atris Spec. Plant. 1140,-Orig. 1 |
