86 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



been allowed to subside, the water is gradually drawn 

 off", fresh water supplied, the whole stirred up and 

 again allowed to subside, and the water again drawn 

 off. The treatment of the starch in this stage depends 

 on the purity of the water used, as, unless the tapioca 

 when prepared is of the purest whiteness, it can 

 hardly be given away. After the starch has become 

 sufficiently pure it is allowed to dry in the vats, 

 whence it is cut out in cakes, and is then ready for 

 the last stages of preparation. If tapioca Hour is 

 required, it is placed first on racks to dry, then on 

 large, almost flat, tin sheets, which form the top of a 

 brick flue, where an extremely gentle fire is kept up. 

 If fluke tapioca is requisite, it is submitted to rather 

 stronger heat in concave pans at first, whence it is 

 moved to the previously-mentioned sheets, and kept 

 turned over with wooden rakes, etc., until it assumes 

 the fluke-like form so familiar to consumers in Europe. 

 The flukes are then sifted, to separate the various 

 sizes, and the prepared tapioca is ready for placing in 

 the bags for shipment." 



The Sweet Cassava Root. — This is the root of 

 another plant named Manihot aipi, Pohl, which, 

 though regarded by Pohl as a distinct species, is, 

 without doubt, but a variety of the last species. The 

 chief difference is in the root, which is of a most 

 wholesome character, in contradistinction to the 

 acridity of the bitter cassava. This is very remarkable, 

 that such a difference should exist in different forms 

 of the same species, but such it is in this instance, 

 and the plant is largely grown, especially in tropical 

 America, as an esculent ; it is so harmless that it 

 may be eaten raw without any fear of injurious effect, 

 but it is usually boiled or roasted, and eaten as a 

 vegetable, the flavour somewhat resembling that of 

 fresh chestnuts. It is also employed in the prepara- 

 tion of an intoxicating beverage, called " Piwarrie," 

 which is accomplished by scraping the roots into a 

 pulp, from which the juice is expressed, which is 

 allowed to ferment for a few days, when it is purified, 

 and forms a very agreeable beverage. Cassava meal 

 and tapioca are also obtained from the roots, but 

 only in limited quantities, being less productive than 

 the bitter root. 



The dietetical value of tapioca is too well known 

 to require any notice in this paper, except to say 

 that, owing to its demulcent properties, it is especially 

 valuable as a diet for the sick room, and for infants 

 at the period of weaning. 



J. T. Riches. 



MY TELESCOPE. 



Yellow (or Ray's) Wagtail.— I am much 

 obliged to Mr. Read for his remarks on the birds 

 which visited my garden. It was late in September 

 when I saw them ; they were undoubtedly yellow not 

 grey wagtails ; some of them remained about for 

 three days. I noticed they varied very much in size, 

 so were no doubt (as he observed) two broods ; some 

 pied wagtails were in company with them. — .S. M. P. 



THIS little book is emphatically what it claims to 

 be by its sub-title, " A Simple Introduction to 

 the Glories of the Heavens." 



In a preliminary chapter on the choice of a telescope, 

 after recommending those who are not provided with 

 a long purse to choose a reflector in preference to a 

 refractor, the writer describes the constellation of the 

 Great Bear, and shows how it may be used as an index 

 to the heavens ; then follows a chapter taken as a 

 type of a star. Then the planets and their position 

 in the solar system are very clearly explained. Next 

 comes a description of the moon and its relation to 

 the earth, and the work concludes with chapters on 

 the fixed stars, the double stars, coloured stars and 

 star clusters, and Nebulae. 



The chapters are brief, but the matter is correct, 

 being distinguished throughout by accuracy and 

 simplicity. Those who go through it with the aid of 

 only a telescope of three-inches aperture will certainly 

 long for a bigger book and a larger telescope. 



NOTES ON THE EIGHTH EDITION OF THE. 

 LONDON CATALOGUE OF BRITISH 

 PLANTS. 



By Arthur Bennett, F.L.S. 



600 b. Mr. Baker's plant was long ago commented 

 on in the " Phytologist," it occurs abundantly at 

 Flegg Burgh, near Filby, Norfolk, by some con- 

 sidered a hybrid between 600 and 598. 



599 an added plant. Years ago reputed as British,, 

 denied, and fell out of notice. Mr. Toundrow gathered 

 what Mr. Ridley, of the British Museum, considered 

 the true plant near Malvern ; it is generally a smaller 

 plant than E. obscurum, and its leaves are different. 



602 and 603 should be combined, as Mr. Watson 

 long ago held. Practically no two British botanists 

 separate them alike ; whether we have the true 

 alpinum {E. lactijlorum) of Hausknecht's Monograph 

 must hereafter be proved. 



609, alter authority to " Jacq." 



623, alter authority to "DC." 



648 should be F. cafiillaccum, Gilib. 



625 is 559, 7th ed. 



626 is 560, 7th ed. 

 630 is 561, 7th ed. 

 636 is 573. 7th ed. 



638 and 639. Three varieties are here added : 

 their characters will be found in Koch's "Synopsis- 

 of the German and Swiss Floras." 



644 is 604, 7th ed. 



* "My Telescope and Some Objects which it Shows," by 

 A Quekett Club-man. Roper & Drowley, Ludgate Hil!, E.C- 



