ARUM TRIBE 19 
is made by crushing the Arum-root in a mortar, stirring the mass in water, 
and straining off the liquor. The mass must be again washed and dried. 
The corms are said to yield about four pounds of fecula to the peck. The 
manufacture of this article was some years since much greater in Portland 
Isle than it now is, though it was never of any great commercial importance, 
and it is now almost extinct, and never seen out of the island, except in cases 
in which botanists make experiments upon plants. The writer adds that it 
was formerly customary to crop the lands in the island every other year, 
leaving them fallow during the intervening seasons, at which time the in- 
habitants received permission from the owners of the lands to dig up the 
Arum-roots. But the theory of the rotation of crops is now acted on there, 
as elsewhere, and the once fallow land is now covered with the green blade, 
or in some spots has been built over. The Arum has consequently become 
much less abundant, and the writer found it difficult at that time to procure 
asample of the Portland sago; he also ascertained that an old woman in the 
island was then the sole manufacturer. The plant, besides its almost universal 
name of Lords-and-Ladies, is called in the island by its old name of Cows- 
and-Calves, as well as Arrow-root and Starch-root. The writer remarks, that 
it is singular that it should be called Arrow-root, probably from its arrow- 
shaped leaves; and asks: “ May not the Maranta arundinacea (Indian arrow- 
root) have derived its name from the previously known and appreciated 
Arrow-root of the Island of Portland?” The general opinion is, however, 
that the Maranta was so called because its pounded root is used by the Indians 
to extract the poison from wounds inflicted by the arrow. 
The tubers of various species of Arum form a very important article of 
food in many tropical countries. Sir Joseph Hooker, when in the Himalayas, 
mentions having pitched his tent at ten thousand feet above the sea, amid 
an undergrowth of holly, and surrounded by magnificent rhododendrons, 
roses, willows, white flowering cherry, birch, and maple trees. ‘Some great 
tuberous-rooted Arums,” he says, ‘‘ were very abundant, and the ground was 
covered with small pits, in which were large wooden pestles ; these are used 
in the preparation of food from the Arums, to which the miserable inhabitants 
of the valley have recourse in spring. The roots, when bruised, are thrown 
into the holes with water. In seven or eight days an acetous fermentation 
commences, and this is a sign that the poisonous principle is dissipated.” 
The pulpy mass is afterwards boiled and eaten ; its nutriment consisting in 
the starch, which exists in small quantities, and which the ignorant inhabitants 
have not the skill to separate by grating and washing. The Doctor adds 
that this food produces illness, and a loss of the skin and hair, especially 
when the root is insufficiently fermented; but in all probability a better 
mode of preparation would render the root perfectly wholesome. The Arum 
esculentum is much eaten by the South Sea islanders, and appears to form - 
really good food. 
Besides the common modern names of our Cuckoo-pint, it was known by 
several others to old herbalists: they called it Ramp and Friar’s Cowl; and 
the French still call it Bonnet de Grand Prétre, as well as Pied de Veau, Pain 
de Litvre, Le Gouet, and in the southern provinces Chou poivre. It is said to 
form the basis of their celebrated cosmetic, termed cypress powder, which is 
9) 
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