TUCKAHOE, OR INDIAN BREAD. 693 



lowisli, in and out side), known as Hoelen or Foelem. It grows in sandy 

 soil, in the province of Tcheucn, and is generally esteemed for its medic- 

 inal properties." In this country there seems to have been found a plant 

 quite like P. cocos, as indicated by the following extract: "Picquotaine, a 

 highly nutritious plant growing in Korth America and used by the In- 

 dians as food. It belongs to one of the species of the genus Psoralea, 

 and is temporarily placed by Lamarc Picquot, who first introduced it 

 into France, under the species escidenta, of Prusch. In the proportion 

 of one-half or one-third parts farina, makes excellent bread with wheat 

 flour" (Booth & Morfit's "Encyclopaedia of Chemistry," p. 832.) These 

 authors considered Picquotaine identical with Tuckahoe, since the above 

 sketch is referred to under the word Tuckahoe. That they are different 

 can be seen by the analysis of Picquotaine, which is : Nitrogenous matter, 

 4.09; mineral substance, 1.61; starch, 81.80; water, 12.50 (Pay en, in 

 Comptes Rendus, for 1848, p. 826). 



By comparing this with the analysis of P. cocos, it will be seen that 

 it contains six times as much nitrogenous matter as P. cocos, while the 

 starch in the former is equal in quantity to the pectine in the latter. 

 So the claim for identity is groundless, and there is but little indication 

 of affinity. 



The next topic occupying our attention is its 



Habitat. — By means of the set of queries sent to various parts of 

 the United States, asking, among other questions, about the prevalence 

 in each locality where it is found, the geographical distribution was 

 accurately determined. The States only will be given, without men- 

 tioning the county. It has been found in several places in Delaware 

 as far north as Kent County, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, 

 Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, 

 Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and Florida. The character of the soil in 

 which it is universally found is a light loam, free from prevalent moist- 

 ure, and in fields that have not been farmed for several years, especially 

 those from which the timber has been cleared within fifty years past. 

 Not a single specimen has been found in very old fields, nor in wood 

 lauds. This however might be from the fact that timber land is not dug 

 up nor plowed — the way P. cocos is always found. Even if it were nu- 

 tritious, this accidental manner of finding it — by no means frequent in 

 plowing several acres — would render it of very little and uncertain 

 service as food. The above requisites for its production being so fre- 

 quentlj' coexisting, there would appear no natural limit to the extent of 

 P. cocos, unless we suppose that a cold climate and a prolonged frozen 

 condition of the ground would prevent its formation. This is quite 

 likely, as it is not found north of Delaware. 



Chemical composition. — In order to fully determine whether P. cocos 

 could possibly be used as an article of food, it was necessary to have a 

 careful analysis made of its substance, especially since the analyses 



