Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/67

SEA colour. It is eaten both in Britain and Ireland, like the preceding s^iecies. ,0. The piiinaliJlJus, Indented, or Jagged Sea-wkack, or Pep- rRR-DtLSE, is also met with abund- antly on the rocks of Britain, which are covered by the tides. It at- tains two or three inches in height j and is of a yellowish-olive colour, frequently tinged with a reddish hue. — It is likewise eaten both in Scotland and Ireland, 6. The esculentns. Esculent Sea-wrack, Bladder-locks, or Tangle, is common on the rocks contiguous to the shores of Cum- berland and Scotland ; where it grows from live to ten yards in jength, and one foot wide, being of an olive or green colour. — This species furnishes a grateful food for cattle ; and its stalk, when boiled, affords a culinary dish in Scot- land, as well as in some parts of England: the proper season for gathering this vegetable is the month of September, in which it is found in the greatest perfe<5lion, — ^The Esculent Sea- wrack has, farther, been recommended for re- storing the natural appetite in the disorder, termed pica, or longing. 7. 'Yhesacdmrinus, Sweet Sea- wrack, or Sea-belt, abounds on the sea-shores. Its stem is from 2 to 12 inches in height, of an oval form, a leathery consistence, and of a tawney-green colour. If it be washed in the spring, and suspend- ed to dry, a sweet saccharine mat- ter will exude from its extremities ; though not in such quantity a%from the Palmated Sea-wrack. — The sea-belt is eaten, both when taken fresh out of the sea, and also boiled as a pot-herb. SEAL, the Common, or Sea- calf, Phoca vitulina, L. an animal SEA [47 inhabiting the rocky shores of Bri- tain and Ireland, as well as the coasts of Caernarvonshire and An- glesey, in Wales. Seals have a smooth head, des- titute of external ears, and are, ill general, from 5 to (5 feet in length : though sometimes attaining the size of a small cow. These am- phibious creatures prey entirely on fish, which they readily devour, though immersed under water : they belong to the mamillary class, and the female generally produces two young ones, early in autumn, which she suckles while in an erevi posture, in the sea. Seals are chiefly caught 011 ac- count of their skins, and the oil extracted from their fat : the for- mer sell at 4«. or 4s. 6d, each : and when dressed, are employed for co- vering trunks, making waistcoats, shot-pouches, ?cc. — The young of these quadrupeds, when about 0' weeks old, yield more oil than their emaciated dams : each fur- nishes about 8 gallons of that li- quor. In June 1799, a patent was granted to Mr. Tho, Chapman, of Bermondsey, Surrey j for his method of taking the wool, or fur, from seal and other skins, for ma- nufaduriug it into hats, &:c. so that the skins or pelts, are less damaged than by any otb.er process, bemg thus preserved for tanning them into any kind of leather. — For a minute description of the patentee';* contrivance, we refer the curious reader to the 1 1 th volume of the Repertory of Arts, &:c. SEALING-WAX, is a compo- sition of gum-lac, melted and in- corporated with resins, and after- wards coloured with some pigment, such as Vermillion, verditer, ivory- black, &rc. There