CEYLON MOSS, edible seaweed.
Gracillaria lichenoides, Greville.
Fucus lichenoides, Turner.
F. amylaceus, O'Shaughneory. Shih-wha-tsai, . CHIN. I Mousse de Ceylon, . FR.
A small and delicate fueus, well known for the atnylaceous property it possesses, and the largo proportion of true starch it furnishes. The fronds are filiform ; the filaments much branched, and of a light purple colour. It grows abundantly in Ceylon, in the large backwater which extends between Putlam and Calpentyn. It is collected by the natives principally during the south-west monsoon, when it becomes separated by the agitation of the water. The moss is spread on mats, and dried in the sun for two or three days. It is then washed several times in fresh water, and again exposed to the sun, which bleaches it ; after which it is col lected in heaps for exportation. 100 grains weight yielded the following proportions :— Vegetable jelly, . 51'50 Gum, True starch, . . 15'00 Sulphate and phos Ligneous fibre, . . 18'00 phate of lime, . . 1'00 Sulphate and muri ate of soda, . . 6'50 Total, . 99'00 with a trace of wax and iron. For a decoc
tion, take two drachms ground to fine powder, water one quart ; boil for twenty minutes, and strain through muslin. By increasing the propor tion of the ground moss to half an ounce, the filtered solution on cooling becomes a firm jelly, which, when flavoured by cinnamon or lemon-peel, sugar, and a little wine, is an excellent article of light food for sick children and convalescents.— Bow. Phan p. 276.
Plocaria candida and Sphmro coccus lichenoides, Grev., also furnish Ceylon moss.
CH. The soft sound of the English cb, as in charm, cheese, chintz, is usually attained in French by tch and in German by tsch. Many of tho inhabitants of the south and west of India cannot pronounce the eh, and invariably substitute the s. Thus the noted Pindari leader Cheetoo was called in the Dekhani, Setoo. Again, with many of the tribes of the Indian desert, the s is alike a stumbling block, which causes many singular mistakes, when Jeysulmir, the hill of Jeysul,' becomes Jehulmir. —Tod's Rajasthan, i. p. 102.