42 DROPS OF WATER. 



use of in certain quantities mixed with flour in 

 the manufacture of bread by the poor : not that 

 it contains any nutriment (or, at all events, it pos- 

 sesses it in so small a quantity, as not to be able 

 alone to support life), but on account of its serv- 

 ing to distend the stomach, and thus to prevent 

 the unpleasant sensations attendant on an im- 

 perfectly-filled state of that organ. 33 This sub- 

 stance seems also to be occasionally used in 

 China, as is shown by the following statement 

 published in 1839 by M. Laribe, a missionary :- 

 "This earth is only used in seasons of great 

 dearth. One of our Christians, who, at the 

 period of the last famine, fed upon this substance, 

 with five other individuals composing his family, 

 informed me, that when they made use of it, 



