TUCKAnOE, OR INDIAX BREAD. G95 



bodies seldom amount to ten percent. According: to Saab's Botany, "tlio 

 origin of colloidal pectin is still unknown." Its nutritive value seems also 

 to be entirely undecided. The older writers considered the pectin bodies 

 of no value as foods, while later authors seem inclined to give them a 

 value approximately that of starch. It seems certain that a diet of 

 Tuckahoe (P. cocos) alone would not sustain life, because of the lack of 

 sufficient nitrogenous materials to repair the waste inthe animal tissues j 

 still, it might prove a valuable adjunct to highly nitrogenous foods. 



Various medicinal properties have been ascribed to P. cocos, such as, 

 an antidote to mineral poisons; for poultices on the ulcers that foUow 

 yellow fever; diarrhea; cancers; and, the most startling of all — the state 

 mcnt made in Hobb's "Botanical Hand-Book'' — that it is aphrodisiac. 

 It is easy to understand how these properties could be ascribed to Tucka- 

 hoe — a representative name for all round or tuberous esculent roots — 

 and now when P. cocos is the only root bearing the name of Tuckahoe it 

 retains the traditional virtues of a large part of the Indian materia 

 medica. From the.large number of correspondents upon this subject, 

 not one has been found who ever knew of any use to which it has been 

 I)ut. So we may safely conclude that P. cocos possesses no practical 

 value; but it is unsurpassed in interest from a botanical standpoint, 

 especially since so little is known concerning its 



Groicth or formation. — To those not familiar with the general appear- 

 ance of P. cocos a description might be acceptable. As already stated, 

 the outside is rough, dark brown in color, in many places considerably 

 wrinkled, looking like the bark of a hickory tree just at the surface of 

 the ground. Upon cutting this bark there will be seen a grain almost 

 as distinct as that in the bark of the oak or hickory, and a woody ap- 

 l)earance in other respects. There is not noticeable any membranous 

 division between this bark and the substance within, neither does the 

 one merge into the other, but there is a marked distinction between 

 them. Within we find a comj)act white mass, without any apparent 

 stracture, either vascular or granular. When first taken from the 

 ground it is quite moist, and gives away under pressure; but this moist- 

 ure is doubtless absorbed from the gi'ound and is not inherent. When 

 dry, this white substance cracks from within and becomes very hard. 

 At all times it is absolutely tasteless, and insoluble in water. Even 

 after a careful and extensive study of the subject, there is still some 

 doubt as to its formation. From a critical inspection of its structure, 

 and an examination of many specimens at different stages of develop- 

 ment, together with the confirmatory evidence of numerous correspond- 

 ents, the following conclusion was reached. At some season of the year 

 spores are given off and transmitted by insects, water, or other natural 

 means, and are attached to the roots of other trees suitable for its pro- 

 duction. This doubtless occurs while the tree is in a living condition. 

 These spores have the property of converting the woody fiber of the 



