178 BOTANY. 



sago are made at Mergui, yet Lindley in his Medical Bo* 

 tany, makes no reference to tacca as yielding sago. 



Tacca pinnatifida. 



6Da)a5i'Ga>ocScoDi> cqoq« common sago, 



^oScSk large sago- 



MERGUI ARROW ROOT. 



A spurious kind of arrow root has long been made at 

 Mergui from the same plant as that which yields the sago. 

 But medical men have decided that it contains properties 

 which render it unsuitable for the sick, and chemical ana- 

 lysis has developed that it contains only half the nutritious 

 qualities of the genuine arrow root. 



TRUE ARROW ROOT 



The true arrow root plant was introduced several yearn 

 ago by Mr. O'Riley, and is beginning to be largely culti- 

 vated. The arrow root made is not inferior in quality to 

 any imported ; while it is sold for half the price, at a good 

 profit. A gentleman at Tavoy has sold a considerable 

 quantity for exportation this year, and has orders for more 

 than a thousand pounds of the next crop. 

 Mar ant a arundinacea. 



o£yosM ojyn. o^g^ 



TAPIOCA TREE, 



1 am not aware that either tapioca, or cassava is manu- 

 factured on this Coast, but manihot, the plant which pro- 

 duces both, is frequently seen in culture. The natives boil 

 the root, and eat it like a yam, though severe sickness it* 

 cften induced by the use of it. The Karen name signifies; 

 " tree yam," and in Burmese it is called the " Penang 

 yam," which shows whence it was imported. Malays 

 have told me that much of the sago, and arrow root 

 which comes from Penang and Singapore, is made from 

 this plant, though the former is usually supposed to be pre- 

 pared from the sago palm ; and Mr. Ranney informs me 

 that arrow root is made from it at the Mauritius. It is said 

 tfiat an acre of ground, planted with the cassava tree 



