358 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



then beat it in a mortar, or grind it in a handmill ; they then sift out 

 the flour, and winnow the husks from it ; they then mix this into a 

 thin paste with water, and bake it in flat loaves, which they call 

 samp loaves, or samp bread. Beside this, they have another dish 

 prepared of this corn, which they esteem a great delicacy, and call by 

 the name of samp, without the addition of loaf or bread. To make 

 this, they only bruise or grind the corn to the size of rice, and then 

 winnowing away the husks, they boil it gently till it is thoroughly 

 tender, and then add to it milk and butter and sugar ; this is not only 

 a very wholesome, but a very pleasant dish. It was the first diet of 

 our planters when newly settled here, and is still in use as an inno- 

 cent food in sickness as well as health. The Indians, who feed on 

 this sort of food, are found never to be subject to the stone, and to 

 escape several other painiul diseases. The English have found a way 

 of making a very good sort of beer of the grain of Indian corn ; they 

 do this either by using the bread of it, or else by malting it, as they 

 do their own corn. When they make the beer of the maize bread, 

 they break or cut it into lumps as big as a man's fist ; they mash 

 these in the same manner that we do malt, and boil up the wort in 

 the same manner, either with or without hops. 



SAND. The name of sand is given to all mineral matter that 

 exists in minute detached grains, and is denominated from the pre- 

 vailing substance, as siliceous sand, iron sand. Sand is generally formed 

 from the disintegration of hard stones or rocks by the agency of water, 

 and the particles of siliceous stones, possessing a greater degree of 

 hardness than most other kinds. The greatest part of the sand which 

 exists on the seashore, or is spread on the surface of the earth, is sili- 

 ceous. Argillaceous stones, or calcareous stones intermixed with 

 alumine, when reduced to minute parts, form a kind of paste or mud 

 by intermixture with water, the particles uniting or cementing together " 

 as the mixture becomes dry. When a bed of siliceous sandstone rises 

 to the surface, the particles become separated by the action of the 

 atmosphere and other causes, and form a loose sandy soil ; sometimes 

 so destitute of mixture with other earths, as to be entirely unfit lor 

 vegetation. 



The surface of the globe presents immense countries covered with 

 sand, as the deserts of Africa, and those of Northern Asia. Accord- 

 ing to Patrin, a French mineralogist, the great rivers which he has 

 seen in Northern Asia, the Irtisch, the Ob. and the Yenissey, have 

 their beds at present surrounded by sandy deserts, which are in many 

 parts from four to five hundred feet above the level of the plains. 

 These masses of sand, which cover such an immense extent, were 

 formed from the ruins of the higher parts of central Asia, brought 

 down by inundations. Extensive tracts of cultivated ground are 

 sometimes converted into sandy deserts ; the process is taking place 

 at present, and has been well described by Ci.vier. During very high 



