MISCELLANEOUS USES 



a certain insect, which i)uiictures tlio leafa<!:e, a pasty 

 exudation is often to be found in ahundancc upon 

 the plants. This, upon hardenin.i; into a Kuni, may 

 be collected, and has a sweet, licorice-like tnstc 

 Palmer records a former practice of tlio Indians lo 

 cut the canes when the ^'um was sufficientlv harckMied, 

 lay them in bundles upon ])lankets, and shake' off 

 the sweet particles. The sugar thus obtained was 

 usually consumed by stirring it in water, makin.ic 

 thus a sweet and nutritious drink. C^ovillr speaks 

 of a somewhat different practice with the same phmt 

 by the Panamint Indians of the Mojave Desert, who 

 would dry the entire reed, grind it and sift out tlie 

 flour. This, which would be moist and sticky from 

 the inherent sugar, would then be set near a fire 

 until it would swell and brown, when it would be 

 eaten like taffy ."^ 



Another primitive sort of sugar harvest may be 

 reaped in a small way from the common Milkweed 

 {Asclepias Sijriaca). Kalm, among otliers, lias 

 noted this. The process as observed by him was to 

 gather the flowers in the morning while the dew- 

 was on them. The dew, expressed and ])oiled, 

 yielded a palatable brow^n sugar. Sueh a dainty 

 sort of manufacture seems fitting emnigh in I'niry 



* The American Anthropologist, Oct., 18'J2. 



219 



