236 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



" Indica non magna nimis arbore crescit Arundo, 

 Illius e lentis premitur radicibus humor, 

 Dulcia cui nequeant succo contendere mella." 



" In India there grows a cane of a mo- 

 derate size, from whose viscid roots is ex- 

 pressed a liquor with which honey itself 

 cannot be compared for sweetness." 



Seneca notices it in a way that convinces 

 us the Romans knew not the art of extracting 

 sugar in his time. " It is reported," says he, 

 " that honey is found among the Indians in 

 the leaves of reeds, which is generated either 

 by the dew of that climate, or the sweet and 

 fat humour of the reed itself." 



It is also described by Dioscorides, the 

 physician of Antony and Cleopatra. He says, 

 there is a kind of honey called Saccharon, 

 which is found in India and Arabia Felix. It 

 has the appearance of salt, and is brittle when 

 chewed. If dissolved in water, it is beneficial 

 to the bowels and stomach, is useful in 

 diseases of the bladder and kidneys, and when 

 sprinkled on the eye, removes those sub- 

 stances that obscure the sight. * 



Pliny says"f, "As for sugar, it is produced 

 in Arabia, but the best comes out of India. 



* Matthioli Dios. cap. 75. f Book xii. chap. 8. 



