142 



PROCEEDINGS OP SECTION B. 



thank engineers and scientists fox- this, and it may be that the com- 

 petition that is springing up will result in the Chilian Goveniment 

 taking oft' some excise duty, and thus the price generally of fertilisers 

 will decrease. Ths following figures are an attempt to compare the 

 value of the various fertilisers according to the nitrogen content. 

 They are, of course, only approximate, as the market price and nitro- 

 •2'en content are both variable : — 



5.- THE OCCURRENCE OF STARCH IN THE BANGALOW PALM. 

 By W. E. DOHERTY, F.I.C., F.C.S., DepaHment of Public Health, Sydney. 



In the whole vegetable kingdom, with the exception of the 

 ■Graminese, the order Palmae is the most irapf/rtant to the human 

 family. Manifold are the commodities produced by, and the uses of, 

 this order. From the date palm of the East to the cocoa-nut, or, as it 

 is now sometimes named, the ivoker-nut, of the South Seas, and right 

 through the whole tropical, and even in temperate climes, members of 

 this interesting and beautiful order contribute to the welfare and 

 comfort of man. To give a history of the palm in its most interesting 

 aspect would be to enter into a description of the manners and customs 

 of a very great proportion of the human race from time immemorial. 

 In some parts they supply man's staple food, and in others, to say 

 nothing of products of general utilisation, they yield a most essential 

 addition to his dietaiy.* Two well-known examples may be here 

 noticed — namely, the before^mentioned date palm, which flourished in 

 the gardens of the East long before our era, and which is now 

 cultivated in all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, particu- 

 larly in North Africa and Palestine, and also in Arabia and Persia. 

 The Arabs of the desert depend upon it almost solely for their food 

 supply, and in a very large measure for shelter. In India and the 

 PJast Indies, palms supply the much-prized sago in enormous quantities. 

 This valuable food, which is used by all civilised nations of the earth, 

 comes chiefly from the Sagus Rumphii (Metroxylnn Rumphii, Mart.) 

 and from the Sagus Lcevis Rumphii (M. leave. Mart.). Sago is said to 

 be the only starch food derived from the palmoe, and this statement is 

 of interest here, as I am about to show that the occurrence of starch 

 in a member of the order is the object of this contribution. 



