D I V I S I O N I. 



Class 4. C. 



ACIDS. 



N. O. 74. LEGUMINOS^E. LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



Cicer arietinum. Linn. Common Cheek Pea, Common Gram. 



Linn. Sysf. Piadelphia Decandria. 



Vernacular. See " Pulse." 



Habitat. The Mediterranean countries. Widely cultivated in India. 



Remarks. See "Pulse." When at Sholapore, some years ago, my 

 Moonshi asked me to lend him some towels to gather " a spirit," which he 

 stated fell at night on fields of growing gram, and which, with water, 

 formed an agreeable drink in the hot season. The cloths were laid 

 over the tender gram, and by the morning were saturated with dew, 

 having an intensely acid taste. This was wrung off, and bottled. Though 

 unfamiliar to Europeans, this substance is well known to natives, and is 

 mentioned by Royle, and others. The acid is said to be the oxalic. 

 Other acid substances have been detailed under "Condiments" and 

 " Sherbets," and the present article should have been placed under the 

 latter, as a separate class of acids, although founded on the highest 

 authority is superfluous. 



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