152 



HYPHENE THEBAICA. (Doum Palm, Gingerbread Tree.) 



'a. Fruit. 



Note. This palm is remarkable for having a repeatedly forked stem, 

 Its fruit is said to resemble gingerbread in taste, and the outer portion is 

 eaten by the poorer classes in Egypt. See Treas. Bot., p. 612 ; Bentley, 

 Man. Bot., p. 92. 



618. PH<ENIX DACTYLIFERA, L. (Date Palm.) 



a. Spike of fruit. 



b. Sugar obtained from the fruit. 



Note. The crude sugar obtained from this and other palms is known 

 tinder the name of jaggery. The long leaves of this palm are probably 

 the "branches of palm-trees" mentioned in John xii. 13. Treas. Bot., 

 p. 877. 



619. PHYTELEPHAS MACEOCAEPA, R. et P. (Ivory Plant.) 



a. Seeds. (Vegetable Ivory.) 



Note. The seeds consist in large proportion of a white hard albumen 

 which, when the fruit is young, forms a clear insipid fluid which soon 

 becomes milky and sweet, and then hardens into the substance known as 

 vegetable ivory. Vegetable ivory is used for tops of smelling bottles, 

 etc. 



620. SAGUS L^EVIS, Rumph, and other species. (Spineless Sago 



Palm.) 



a. Pearl sago. Two specimens. 



b. Large sago. (Common, or Brown Sago.) 



c. Ditto, bleached. 



d. Sago starch. 



Note. This species is said to yield most of the sago imported into 

 Europe. Some is, however, obtained from S. Bumphii, Eoxb., the 

 prickly sago palm, or malay. The greatest quantity is procured by 

 cutting down the tree as soon as the flower spike appears ; a single tree 

 often yielding 600 Ibs. Sago is apparently made by two different pro- 

 cesses, the starch grains being burst in some samples and not in others. 

 See 'Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. L, p. 145 ; Treas. Bot., p. 1006. Ficti- 

 tious sago, sold by grocers under the name of pearl tapioca, is made 

 from potato starch. See Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. i., p. 147. For fig. 

 of sago starch see Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. i., frontispiece, fig. 7, 8, 9. 

 It much resembles Tacca starch, but the truncated grains are rather 

 longer than in that starch. The specimen d is the sample received by 

 Pereira from Cockermouth, Cumberland, under the name of " food for 

 the people." Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. i., p. 145. 



AEACEJB. 



621. CALADIUM ESCULENTUM, L. 



a. Rhizome. Presented by Senor G. J. de Nobrega, 



Madeira. 



Note. The rhizome and leaves are sold in the bazaars in Bombay, 

 and are eaten by the natives. In the West Indies they are called yams, 

 cocoes, or eddoes. Bentley, Man. Bot., p. 676 ; Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., 

 pt. i., p. 137. 



