- 



FOOD. 



roon. 



in however another palm belonging; to the same genus, the & Rumpkii | 

 (the 1'riekly Sago-Palm), which yields the >ago that U consumed by 

 the natives of India. 



Sago U not generally eo carefully prepared a* arrow-root, and it in 

 a much cheaper article of diet IU ultimate action is perfectly the 

 same as arrow-root. It is now often employed by starch-makers to 

 procure the finer kinds of starch used by manufacturers. When thus 

 prepared, it is used to adulterate arrow-root. 



Tapioca is another form of starch. It is brought to Europe from 

 South America, nnd is the produce of a plant known to botanists by 

 the name of janipka Manifiot. It is a poisonous plant, anil the 

 Indians in tht- countries where it grows extract a poison from it, 

 which they use to poison their arrows, before they obtain the starch. 

 Cassava, which is eaten by the natives, is procured from the same 

 plant, but is prepared in a different way from tapioca. The starch of 

 tapioca does not differ iu chemical composition from that of sago 

 and arrow -root, and it is used in the same way, and for the same 

 purpose* 



An Indian family preparing Tapioca. The woman Is poinoning an srrow 

 with the juice which cxadra from the bag containing the Tapioca. 



There are many other well-known plants which owe their dietetical 

 properties to the starch they contain ; amongst these we may mention 

 the potato, the carrot, the turnip, the parsnip, the cabbage, the Jeru- 

 salem artichoke. From any of these starch might be prepared. 

 The roots of A rum maculatum, though acrid, contain much starch. 

 When cooked, the acridity of the plant is got rid of, and they are 

 eaten with impunity. These roots are employed in making the 

 substance called Portland sago, which is the starch separated from 

 the rert of the matter of the plant. This sago is used for the same 

 purposes as the other kinds of sago. 



The rooUof Orckit matcula, which is a common plant of our meadows, 

 form the substance called salep. When it is boiled, it forms an 

 agreeable article of diet, which, before the introduction of tea and 

 coffee, was rery generally used in this country. It is now almost 

 entirely disused in Oreat Britain. 



Starch differs in some of its chemical and physical properties 

 according to the plants whence it is obtained. In this way chemists 

 hare distinguished several kinds of starch. Inuline is a form of starch 

 obtained from the Initla lltlenium, a plant not uncommon in our own 

 fields. [IRULA.] Lichen-starch is another form, which is found in 

 almost all kinds of A Igtr as well as Lichens. This starch has the same 

 power of thickening water at a high temperature as arrow-root and 

 tapioca ; and hence, when any of these plants are boiled in water, 

 they form a thick mucilaginous decoction. The thickness of th fluid 

 thus obtained, under the erroneous notion of its being nutritious, has led 

 ne of many species of sea-weeds and lichens as articles of diet. 



One of the planU of this kind, which has been used most extensively 

 and is still largely employed, is the Iceland-Moss {Crtraria hlandica). 

 It belongs to the family of Lichens, and is a native of the northern 

 parts of the world. This and other lichens probably contain other 

 >:! secretions besides starch, u we find they are capable of 

 supporting animal life. The Rein-Deer-Mon (Cenomyct rangiferina) 

 is an instance of this. In the northern parts of the world as well as 

 iu mountainous districts this lichen grows in great abundance, and 



during the winter season is the principal support of the rein-deer. In 

 spite of the extreme cold to which it is subjected this plant grows 

 with vigour, nd the rein-deer, in <>r<!< r to obtain it as food, is obliged 

 to remove with its nose the snow with which it is sometimes covered 

 for many feet. The Cup-Moss (Cenomyre pyjcidata) of our own moon 

 belongs to the same genus as the rein-deer moss, and is also used as 

 an article of diet in the same way as the Iceland-moss. The Tripe de 

 Roche is another of these lichens which has been used as an article of 

 diet It has a melancholy interest attached to it, as it has so often 

 formed the chief article of diet of our arctic navigators. Two species 

 of lichens, the Gyrophora probotcidea and (/. rrota, afford the Tripe de 

 Roche. Although they are said to be nutritious, they are described 

 as having bitter, nauseous, and purgative properties. 



Amongst the aea-weeds which have been used as articles of diet 

 noue is better known thaii the Chotulrui criipui, which under the 

 name of Carrageen-Moss, Irish Moss, and Pearl-Moss has been for a 

 long time used in Europe. [Ai.o.ti] It grows on the rocky sea-shore* 

 of Europe ; and when washed and dried, and then boiled with water, 

 makes a mucilaginous decoction, which, like the gome preparation of 

 the Iceland-moss, has been recommended in consumption, coughs, 

 diarrhoea, and other diseases. It has however no bitter principle, 

 and is probably less tonic than the lichen. This and other sea-weeds 

 have been occasionally had recourse to by the poor inhabitant* of the 

 sea-shores of Europe, more especially Ireland, when the ordinary corn 

 or potato crop bos foiled. They contain however but little nutritious 

 matter, and persona soon furnish who live upon nothing else. There 

 are certain forms of sea-weed which are often eaten as an addition to 

 other kinds of food. There is in all of them a certain flavour of the 

 sea, arising probably from the saline matter they contain, which 

 renders them very objectionable to some persons as articles of food, 

 and which will probably always form an objection to their general 

 use. Of those which are eaten in various parts of England we may 

 mention : 



1. Laver, Sloke, Slokam (Porphyra taciniata). It is on all our son- 

 shores ; and when employed as food U salted and eaten with pepper, 

 vinegar, and oil. 



2. Green Laver, Green Sloke, Oyster-Green (I'lra latiuima). The 

 I'lra is not BO good to eat as the Porphyra, and is only hod recourse 

 tc when the latter is not abundant. 



3. Tangle, Sea- Ware, Sea-Girdles, Sea-Wand, Red Ware (Laminaria 

 digitata). It is cooked by boiling for a long time, and adding pepper, 

 butter, and lemon-juice. Cattle ore fed on it when young in some 

 parts of the British Islands. 



4. Bodderlochs, Hen-Ware, Honey- Ware, Murlins (Alaria aculenla). 

 The part of the plant which is eaten is the thick middle rib which 

 runs through the frond. It is sometimes called the Eatable Fucus. 



5. The Dulse of the south-west of England is the Iriilea edulii of 

 botanists. It is eaten by the fishermen of the south-west coasts of 

 England, who before eating it piuch it between red-hot irons. In 

 Scotland it is cooked in the frying-pan. It is said to resemble in iU 

 flavour roasted oysters. 



6. Dulse of the Scotch, Dellisk, Dollish, Duileisg, Water-Leaf 

 (Rkodomenia palmata). The Highlanders and the Irish, before the 

 introduction of tobacco, were in the habit of drying this weed and 

 using it as a masticatory. The Icelanders use it as an article of diet 

 under the name of the Sugar-Fucus. In the islands of the Mediterranean 

 Archipelago it is employed as an ingredient to flavour soups, ragouts, 

 and other dishes. 



Several other sea-weeds have been employed as food, but these are 

 the principal that are at present used iu this country. In China the 

 people are very fond of sea-weeds, and many kinds are collected and 

 added to soups, or are eaten alone with sauce. One of these, the 

 Plocaria teuajt, is sometimes brought to this country under the name 

 of Chinese Moss. The decoction it makes is so thick that it is used 

 as glue. The Corsican Moss, which has a reputation in medicine a* 

 well as a diet, is the Plocaria Helminlhacortot, and is found on the 

 coasts of the Mediterranean. Another sea-weed was recently imported 

 into London under the name of Australian Moss ; but although atl'< >rd- 

 ing a very thick jelly, it tastes too strongly of the sea to be rendered 

 pleasant by any kind of cooking. 



The next dietetical substance of which we have to speak is Sugar. 

 Sugar is distinguished readily from starch by many properties. 

 Sugar is soluble in water, whilst starch is only diffusible through it. 

 Sugar is susceptible of fermentation, and of being converted into 

 alcohol, which starch is not Sugar has a peculiar sweet taste, whilxt 

 starch is insipid. It is on account of the solubility of sugar that v, . 

 never, or very seldom, find it in plants iu a solid condition. It is 

 always dissolved in the water naturally contained in the plants in 

 which it exists. Sugar is not so frequent a product of vegetable 

 change as starch ; but is, nevertheless, very generally found during 

 some period of the growth of the majority of plants. [SUOAE.] 



Sugar, like starch, is not nutritious, but is taken into the system 

 with the object of maintaining animal heat Persons may even get 

 fat on sugar, but the living tissues are not nourished by any of the 

 carbonaceous productions of plant*. It is true, that in countries 

 where the sugar-cane is grown, slaves and their children, during the 

 period of its gathering, partake of it in large quantities, and are 

 nourished upon it ; but the sap of the sugar-cane, and the cane itself, 



