BUG A I : \ [ELDING IM.vNTB 



8ACCHARUM 



ARUND1NACCUM 



especially Tinnevelly. Buchanan- H .-. r..t- m 1807 that the /dfysry of 



this palm wiw more esteemed in Mysore than that of tho date-palm. It U 



also lar.ely utilised as a source of sugar in liunna (see p. I 



Caryota urens. the Indian Sago-palm <>r Mustard 8.> chief source 



of ill-- j .ilm-siiu-ar of South Ceylon and to some extent of Bombay (see p. 287). 

 Cocos nuclfera. tho Cocoanut ralm. is the species most extensively usej 



in M. :.. . as .. -,.m.-e of palin-Hugar. ( Jnr'Mtt de Orta (154)3) speaks of th- 



My which, fermented, yields arrack nnd vinegar, or from which, when 

 thick. -i ed in tho sun <>r l>y heat, they make jagra, the best kind of which comes 

 from the MM|. Ir..-. Khoode (I.e. i., 1 s, it. 1-4) speaks of jagra " (sugar) made 

 from the piice with the aid of lime, the mixture being boilod until it thicken*. 



.-..loured suuar is obtained (see pp. 



Manna -me ilnrt.-en <>r fourteen plants in India are known to yield, under 



ic m Mi .nee of insects or otherwise, a sweet fluid called manna. This 



ularly collected and, like honey, enter* more largely than sugar into the 



pharniiii -eutical preparations of th Hmdu-i (see Bamboo, p. Ill, an 1 Booty. 



pp. !L'N '.i). \f'f. Can-ia de Orta, 1503, Coll., xxxiii.] 



Phoenix sylvestrls, the Common Date pain. ips the most important 



of palm-su^ar in India. In fact, the plant IH fairly extensively cultr. 



. Bengal as a source of sugar, In Mysore it is also inn >re so 



than cither the palmyra or the coconnut sugars (see p. 880). 



Saccharum ofllcinarum. the Sugar-cane the subject of the present article. 



Sorghum vulgare. the Sugar-Sorghum or imphee (see p. 1041). 



Vltls vinlfera, the Vine. According to Aitchison (Edinb. Hot. Soc. Tran*., 

 l!!D. also Le Mesm-ier (London to Bokhara, 133), tho juice of the grape is used in 

 Afghanistan to make syrup, and in Merv refined s> 



Zea Mays. Indian-corn or maize, often yields sugar in its stem, like that 

 of *<>i-iiiin 111 and *rr/riim (see p. 113S). 



Many substances other than those enumerated are known to afford sweet 

 fluids, hut are for the most part utilised in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages 

 or sweet sherbets only, while others, such as indigo-sugar, are at present p 

 no economic purpose whatever. The mahua flowers (see p. 118) and the pine- 

 apple (see p. 09) are the best-known substances available in India from which 

 a sweet juice may be prepared (if the grape be excluded from consideration), or 

 which are actually utilised in the production of alcoholic beverages. Hon 

 largely traded in all over India. Halwa (a sweetmeat, much like " Turkish- 

 deliirht ") is said to be prepared from camel's milk and honey, and is brought 

 into India from Afghanistan and ports on the Persian Gulf. 



SACCHARUM ARUNDINACEUM, Retz. ; Fl. Br. ///.. vii.. 110. This embraces the 

 following: .V rillarr, Anderss., P. fj-altntum (Munja) and .. rofrrntt (Sara) 

 of Roxb. It is the aara of the classic authors of India, and bears the foil* 

 vernacular names aara, aarkanda, earkara, ramaar, tar, aer, munja, ikar, patd. 

 war, palwa kanda, darga. gundra, ponika, etc. Is met with throughout the plains 

 and lower hills and distributed to China. In the Panjab it often covers largo 



s of country and is frequently planted in lines or dividing hedges, espe 

 in low-lying localities subject to periodic inundation. 



History. Sir William Jones (Sel. Ind. PL, in Aa. Rea., 1795, iv.. 247-s 

 " This beautiful and superb grass is highly celebrated in the I'uninoa, the 1; 

 God of War having been born in a grove of it. which burst into tlam- ; tho gods 

 gave notice of his birth to the nymph of the Pleiads, who descended and su 

 the child, thence named Carticeya. The cdad " (kdad or kdna) " vulgarly coaia " 

 (... MjioufffiirirMi) "has o shorter culm, leaves much narrower, longer and i 

 hairs, but a smaller panicle, less compounded, without the purplish i 

 aara : it is often described with praise by the Hindu poets for tho whiteness of 

 its blossoms, which give a large plain, at some distance, the appearance of a broad 

 river Both plants are extremely useful to the Indians, who harden the t*c- 

 nodal parts of the culms, cut them into implements for writing on th.-ir polished 

 paper. From the munj, or culm, of the aara was made tho maunii. or holy thread, 

 ordained by Menu to form the sacerdotal girdle, in preference oven to the ousa- 

 gross." For its use in the treatment of vinegar, see p. 1 1 In. 



M-ntj FIBRE is obtained from tho loaf-sheaths ; the blades are tho tar or tora 

 used in thatching houses and as a paper material; the contai iod (lowering s 

 is the bind or vind ; the panicle or flowering stem is the >*. Ill or thUt, use. 

 thatching boats, carts, etc. ; aentha or kana is the lower, stronger portion* ol 



929 59 



Indian 



Sago-palm 



Coooanut. 



Urn*. 



D.B.P., 

 v.. 165-7. 



Dnt,. 



Sugar- 

 cane. 



Vine. 



Maise. 



Sweet 

 Fluids. 



D.E.P., 

 vi., pt. IL, 

 1-2. 



Sara and 

 Munj. 



Sacred GruB. 







A/**/ runs. 



