Dijeriatton on the Hi/lory t>f Sugar, 15 



ninth century, from the Perfian language, and eatplains it 

 ty the expreffion {lac lapidefcens), petrified milk; but Gar- 

 cias calls it [buinorem laQeum), milky juice. 



I dial! now proceed to the opinion of Saumaife, which I 

 allow to be extremely probable. Tabaxir is a juice which 

 fpontaneoufly concretes in the manner of gum on very tall 

 reeds ; it is faid to be fweet, and, like Xh^ facchurum of Pliny, 

 to be ufeful only in medicine. The v^m^ fucchar feenrs to 

 have been given by the Indians fince the remoteft periods to 

 the juice of this reed, and latter ages have bcfiowed the fame 

 appellation on the juice of our i'ugar cane, becaole, whea 

 condenfed by the help of fire, it appWches very near in ap- 

 pearance to the fugar of the mambu. Some of the yoimg 

 reeds of the mambu are fo fpongy and abundant in juice, 

 that they are cliewed with great avidity by the common 

 people on account of their agreeable tafte. But fome very 

 weighty reafons prevent me from agreeing in opinion wiih 

 Saumaife : for, in the firft place, that the reed called bambu 

 is a tree of fuch a fize that canoes may be formed of it, is no- 

 argument ; for it can by no means be proved that the reed 

 of which Solinus and Diofcorides fpeak,, is the fame plant 

 from which they colleded xh^n faccbarum: nay, Solinu,^ 

 fays in exprefs words that the Indians fqueczed' from the 

 roots of this reed a potable juice. Hut more modern bota- 

 nifts and travellers, whofe veracity is anqueitionable, and 

 who were well acquainted with the tree, deny that any fweet 

 and potable juice can be exprefled from itsVoots. Such of 

 the antients as have fpoken of the Indian reeds, and preffinor 

 juice from thcni, have never mentioned fuccharum: on the 

 otlier hand, thofe who exprefsly m^txiXxors. faccharum do not 

 fay a fingle word of fqueezing juice from it. Befides, though 

 the juice of the youn^ plants be of a fweet and agreeable 

 tafte, yet the tears which exude near the joints, and are 

 condenfed by the heat of the fun into the form of white pu- 

 mice ftone (for fuch it appeared at leall to Pifo), have no 

 fweetnefs at all, or rather a peculiar tafte a little aftringent^ 

 and finrular to that of burnt ivory *. For this reafon Rumph, 

 who often tafted tabaxir in India, affcrts that he found no 



* G.y/. Pifmh Mantijfa Aromalka, c. 10. qua adhnda enPlfoms Libris 

 de b,d,a uiriufiue Re Naturali cl Medka; Ainftelodami i6's8."fol. p. 1S6 - 

 Arundii.es nambu adolclccntes medulla Icvi, fpongioCa et liquiHa ( noa 

 adeo farda ut vulgaies rannse faccharifcr*) icftrti^ funt, quam vultais 

 gi-ati (apons gratia avide exfugir. At ubi arundincs hau proccra ct annolk 

 facta: tuerint, l.q.ioris conteiiti lubftantia, color. Cjpo, , et tfficacia miitami 

 (tiout in nuce coco adulta ctiam fieri vidcamus), a'rj.jc pauUtim protrw- 

 flitu' roiav, etjuxta internodia vi lolis co.igulatur. 



fweetnefs 



