56 SORGHUM. 



abundance, and is compressed similar to lentils, somewhat oblong in shape, 

 white, dark, and sometimes black in color. 



And of the stalk, he says: 



Eius tamen calamus, non ut vulgarium arundinum inanis est, sed saccha- 

 riferarum arundinum modo, alba farctus medulla. — Yet the stalk of this 

 reed is not worthless, like the cemmon reed, but is, in fact, a sugar bearing reed, 

 filled full of a white pith. 



And he quotes Dodonius as saying, in Hist. Lat. Frum : 



Melica, siva sorghum, Lusitanis milium Saburrum appellatum non nulli tamen 

 Panicum peregrinum at Indicum cognominant. — Melica, or sorghum, called 

 by the Lusitanians Saburrum millet, yet sometimes they call it foreign, or In- 

 dian Panicum. 



And he concludes as follows: 



Nos eorum sententiam probamus qui milium Indicum Plinii esse conclu- 

 dent. — We agree with the opinion of those who consider it to be the Indian 

 millet of Pliny.) 



Frequent reference is made to the white, sweet incrustations upon 

 the joints of an Indian reed, to which the name Saccharum was given 

 by Dioscorides; and which is suj^posed to be the earliest reference to 

 sugar. It is probable that this substance was similar to, if not identi- 

 cal with, a similar exudation from the joints of a hollow reed growing 

 in our Western territories, and which is aimually gathered, in consid- 

 erable quantity, by the Indians, and is known as Piute sugar. It is 

 allied to manna in composition, and is not cane sugar. 



Besides the many quotations given, there are many others which 

 could, with equal force, apply to either the sugar-cane or the sorghum, 

 as, for example, Varro (68 b. c), says: 



India non magna nimis arbore crescit arundoillius e lentis primetur radicibus 

 humor dulcia qui nequeant succo condendere nulla. — There grows, in India, 

 a reed, not much less in size than a tree, from the pliant stalks of which is ex- 

 pressed a juice which the sweet honey can not surpass. 



From Bauhin to the present day, botanists have been more careful 

 in their determinations of those plants so closely allied. 



Linnjeus places them under his genus Holcus, under the specifica- 

 cation of H. sorghum for the Indian millet, and H. saccharatum for 

 the Chinese cane. 



Persoon, after a careful study of these plants, has divided the Lin- 

 njean genus Holcus to form a new one, which he calls Sorghum. 



The name sorghum is from Shorghi, the common name of the plant 

 in the East Indies. 



