146 SALEP AND CASSAVA. 



year and a new one formed, which is matured when the leaves and 

 stalk decay. The roots are then dug, washed in warm water, and the 

 skin removed with a brush. They are then put on a plate in an oven 

 for ten minutes, when they become transparent ; they are then spread 

 in a room a few days. In hot water they form a thick mucilage, highly 

 nutritive and valuable for the sick, and as an article for ship's stores. 



A small quantity added to milk retards its acetous fermentation, and 

 milk is thus kept sweet a long time. Hence, mixed with wheat in 

 bread, it would be highly valuable. An ounce to a pound of flour is 

 sufficient, when the bread will be much improved. Salep is very 

 wholesome and has been much used in medical practice. It is obtained 

 from many of the orchis tribe of plants. It is much imported and no 

 doubt it might be made very profitable cultivated here. An oz. with 

 2 quarts of water forms a jelly that will support a man a whole day. 

 It should therefore be found on board of all ships, and with travellers 

 as affording, in emergencies, the most nutriment in the smallest space. 

 in rich land the orchideae do not come to maturity, but rot in the 

 ground. 



Wake Robin, arum masculatum, grows wild in woody and shady 

 places and possesses properties not unlike those of the salep. In its 

 wild state the plant is very acrid and the juice of the root blisters the 

 tongue ; but this noxious quality is readily dissipated by heat, as with 

 that of cassava. It has been proposed to substitute this root for the 

 salep and arrow root. 



CASSAVA, Tapioca plant, physic nut, or mandioc. Jatropha 



tnanihot. C. 21. O. 8. sp. 9-21. Euphorbeacese. Es. 3 ft from 



remedy and to eat. The farinaceous fibres of the roots of this plant 

 constitute its value and the object of its cultivation. The plant is a 

 native of S. America where it formerly afforded the greatest part of 

 the food of the indians ; and it is now greatly used in Brazil and Mex- 

 ico. There are nine species, two of which are cultivated for food, 

 the bitter and sweet. The first, (J. manihot,) in its natural state, is 

 poisonous ; the 2d is innocent, but it is not so much cultivated. It is 

 a spindle-shaped root, about .15 inches long and appears like the 

 beet. It has a tough fibre running through it which the other has 

 not. The bread from both of these is palatable and wholesome, and 

 is preferred by those accustomed to it, to wheat bread. When dug, 

 the roots are washed, the dark rind peeled off and the root ground or 

 grated on a revolving wheel. The pulp is then placed in a bag and 

 pressed, to extract all the deleterious juice, and then baked on a hot 

 iron hearth, in the form of thin cakes. The cakes remain good for 

 a long time, if kept dry. The poisonous juice of the bitter cassava 

 is entirely expelled by the heat of baking; it is so volatile that the 

 sun expels it, when the root is cut into pieces ; so that cattle feed on 

 it with safety. If the juice be drunk, however, violent retching en- 



