ScrtpilS. TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 211 



shaped tubers. Culms erect, naked, slightly twisted to the 

 right, inwardly intercepted by slender membranes, distant a 

 line, or a line and a half from each other, every eighth or tenth 

 of these partitions, is of a firmer texture than the others and 

 visible on the outside, even when the plant is growing. Leaves 

 none except a slender short sheath or two at the base of each 

 Culm. Spike terminal, solitary, cylindric, naked. Scales 

 oblong, membranaceous margined. Stamens three. Style 

 two or three cleft, at the base swelled out into an ovate-cor- 

 date, compressed shape. Seed obcordate, surrounded with 

 glochidate bristles. 



Obs. For the economical uses of the tuberous roots of this 

 plant, I beg leave to refer to Abbe Grosier, and other historians 

 who have had opportunities of observing in what maimer 

 they are employed by the Chinese, and to the following ex- 

 tract from Mr. Duncan's letter which accompanied the plants. 



" The Maa-tai, Pee-lai or Pi-tse of Abbe Grosier, the 

 water-chesnut, grows in ponds, which are manured for its 

 reception about the end of March. A pond being drained 

 of its water, small pits are dug in its bottom, these are filled 

 with human manure, and exposed to the sun for a fortnight; 

 their contents are then intimately blended with the slimy 

 bottom of the pond, and the slips or roots of the plant de- 

 posited therein ; the water is now returned to the pond, and 

 the new crop of tubers comes to perfection by the beginning 

 of September. 



" 1 his nut is in lu'oh estimation amonoall ranks of Chinese, 

 not only as a pot root, but also a medicine. It is eaten either 

 boiled or raw. I will not vouch for the truth cf the singu- 

 lar virtues ascribed to the Maa-tai, but just relate one of 

 the most plausible. The children here often play with 

 cash in their mouths, which sometimes slip down into the 

 stomach, and bring on alarming symptoms. The nut is imme- 

 diately given in quantities, either raw or boiled, and they say 

 it never fails to give relief, being considered a specific which 

 has the effect of decomposing the metal." 



N 2 



