was the blood coagulated, whence it appeared, that the 

 poison acted on the nervous system ; an idea that was con- 

 firmed, by thirty -six drops being afterwards administered 

 to a criminal. These had scarcely reached the stomach, 

 when the man writhed and screamed with the agonies under 

 which he suffered, and fell into convulsions, in which he 

 expired in six minutes. Three hours afterwards, the body 

 was opened, but no alteration was found, except that the 

 stomach was shrunk to less than half its natural size: so that 

 it would appear that the fatal principle resides in a volatile 

 substance, which may be dissipated by heat; as, indeed, is 

 satisfactorily proved, by the mode of preparing the root 

 for food. 



By various processes, by bruising between stones, by a 

 coarse rasp, or by a mill, the root of the Manioc is broken 

 into small pieces, then put into a sack, and subjected to a 

 heavy pressure, by which all the juice is expressed. What 

 remains is Cassava or Cassada, which, if properly dried, is 

 capable of being preserved for a great length of time. 



In French Guiana, according to Aublet, Cassava flour is 

 made, by toasting the grated root over the fire, in which 

 state, if kept from humidity, it will continue good for 

 twenty years. 



Cassava-cake or Cassava-root is the meal, or the grated, 

 expressed, and dried root of the Manioc, pounded in a 

 mortar, passed through a coarse sieve, and baked on flat 

 circular iron plates fixed in a stove. The particles of meal 

 are united by the heat, and when thoroughly baked in this 

 manner, form cakes, which are sold at the markets, and uni- 

 versally esteemed as a wholesome kind of bread. The 

 Spaniards, when they first discovered the West Indies, found 

 this in general use among the native Indians, who called it 

 Cazabbi, and by whom it was preferred to every other kind 

 of bread, on account of its easy digestion, the facility with 

 which it was cultivated, and its prodigious increase." — L° n S 

 in Lunan's Hort. Jamaic. Again, in Guiana, Cipipa is ano- 

 ther preparation from this plant, and is the name given to a 

 very fine and white fecula, which, according to Aublet, i s 

 derived from the expressed juice of the roots, which is de- 

 canted off, and suffered to rest some time, when it deposits 

 an amylaceous substance, which requires repeated washing- 

 I know not whether this is exactly analogous to our Tapioc a - 

 " The juice," says Sloane, " evaporated over the fire, gives 

 the Tipioca meal." But Lunan tells us, that from ttf 

 " roots of the Sweet Cassada, Tapioca is made in Jamaica 



