170 



VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



thriving in the garden of Dr Hamilton of Plymouth, 

 who writes, in July 1828, ( My arracacha plant is 

 flourishing beyond my most sanguine expectations in 

 the open air ; indeed, it grows much more luxuriantly 

 in the open air than in the house.'* 



To complete a general picture of the substantive 

 vegetable food of the world, it would be necessary 

 that we should notice the jruits of the date-palm, 

 the banana, and the bread-fruit tree ; but these 

 having been described at length in a preceding 

 volume, it will be only requisite here to refer to these 

 accounts.f 



The Banana. 



The banana and the bread-fruit are examples of 

 extraordinary vegetable fruitfulness, with very little 

 assistance from the care of man. The banana is not 

 known in an uncultivated state ; and those who prin- 



* Card. Mag., vol. iv, p. 402. 

 t See ' Vegetable Substances 

 36*, and 411. 



Trees and Fruits,' pp. 348, 



