420 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



Gum. 



Vegetable albumen. 



Woody fibre. 



Acetic and phosphoric acid. 



Phosphate and carbonate of liine. 



Water. 



Allium leptophyllum has bulbs eaten by the hill people in 

 India. A. biberosum is also used in India. Camassia escu- 

 lenta is the quamash of the North American Indians. Their 

 edible bulbs are among the articles of diet called biscuit roots. 



Dracaena terminalis, called Ki, supplies food and an intoxi- 

 cating beverage in the Sandwich Islands. Cattle, sheep, and 

 goats are forid of its leaves. 



Of Lilium tenuifolium, L. Kamtschaticum, and L. specta- 

 bile, the bulbs are used as food in Siberia. L. pomponium 

 is as much prized in Kamtschatka for its roots, as the potato 

 with us. 



Xanthorrhcea, the Grass-tree genus, of different species, 

 afford in their tender tops valuable fodder for all kinds of 

 cattle in the Swan River colony. The tender base of the 

 inner leaves of some of the grass-trees is used as food in Tas- 

 mania, either raw or roasted. Asparagus offidnalis has been 

 from ancient times a favourite esculent. Polygonatum multi- 

 florum, Solomon's seal, in its young shoots, affords a substitute 

 for asparagus. 



Commelynacece, Spider- wort order. Commelyna, in some of 

 its species, has rhizomes, amylaceous and edible viz., ccdistis, 

 tuberosa, angustifolia, and striata. 



Juncacece, Eush order. The cellular tissue at the base of 

 the leaves in some species of Juncus is eaten ; also the corre- 

 sponding part in Astelia alpina, a sedgy plant of Tasmania. 



Palmce, Palm order. Palms, among other numerous uses 

 in human life, supply starch, sugar, oil, wax ; their fruits are 

 often edible ; their buds are eaten like garden vegetables, and 



