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Haricot " beans, The other kinds mentioned under common 

 uaines, with, chiefly coloured seeds, are imported for feeding 

 cattle* The white seeds are usually considered safe for food,, 

 but suspicion is always justifiably attached to coloured seeds,, 

 which have been found to contain undue proportions of prussic 

 acid. In the Kew Museum there is a wide range of these beans 

 which have been the cause of poisoning cattle, investigated by 

 the Board of Agriculture. The Government chemist has found 

 that "excepting that the white beans contain the lowest quan- 

 tity (0-105 per cent.), the dark-brown (0*33 per cent.) and the 

 black (0-32 per cent.), the highest quantity oi prussic acid, 

 it is not possible to draw the conclusion that there is any close 

 relation between colour and amount of prussic acid in the beans.'' 

 Particulars of the poisonous properties of this bean are given in 

 the papers referred to below. The young pods may be cooked 

 like " French beans/' and the plant is an important fodder iu 

 India. Enquiries have recently been made as to whether thi- 

 species will succeed in England. It was introduced to this 

 country in 17T9 (Loudon, who describes it as a " bark stove 

 annual "), and although it may grow during the summer months 

 out of doors it could not be depended upon to ripen seeds in the 

 open. 



2. March, 1906, "Poisoning of cattle by Java Beans," pp. 

 742-746; April, 1906, ibid., pp. 52-53; March, 1908. " Th^ 

 Poisonous Properties of the Beans of Phaseolus lunatus" pp. 



722-731. 



Phaseolus Mungo, Linn.; Urd Bean (India), Black Gram. 



Annual, 1 to 4 ft. a variable plant. Tropical India, Africa, 

 &c« In India one of the most important crops; the green pods 

 and ripe seeds used as food and the plant as fodder. 



Phaseolus radiatus, Linn. (P. aureus, Koxb.); Mung (India), 

 Mung Pulse, Green Gram, Golden Gram, Jerusalem Pea 



(Jamaica). 



Annual, 1 to 2 ft., a variable plant. India, where there are 

 three leading varieties under cultivation, the " Mung " or 

 " Chegt Mung ** (var. typica), seeds green; " Sona Mung " (var. 

 aurea), seeds yellow, the most esteemed form and " Krishna 

 Mung M (var. grandis), seeds black, the least esteemed form 

 (Prain, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, lxvi. 1897, p. 422). Grown 

 also in Malaya, Tropical Africa, &c. Seed used for food and 

 fodder and the straw is also used for fodder. 



Phaseolus vulgaris, Linn.; Haricot Bean, Kidney Bean. 

 French Bean. 



Annual, a foot or so high, including upwards of 200 varieties 

 cultivated in many parts of the world — tropical, sub-tropical and 

 temperate. The principal sources of "Haricot Beans' 5 are 

 ttedagasear (80438), British India (76048), France 

 Germanv (35661), Chile (28392), Austria-Hungary (27305), 

 Belgium (24575), Roumania (9609), Italy (5902), Netherlands 

 (5241), United States (2900), Russia (1288), and Japan (1232). 



The seeds may he white, black, yellow, brown, red, and 



