238 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



tament, Indica, because it was first known or 

 brought from India." 



From these accounts it appears certain 

 that the sugar-cane has been known from the 

 most ancient time in Asia ; and that during 

 the greatness of Rome it appears to have 

 been imported into Europe principally as a 

 medicine, and by a very circuitous channel. 

 In the progress of the subsequent ages, the 

 plant itself became known in Europe, and 

 was cultivated in Sicily and in Spain, pre- 

 viously to the discovery of America. 



It is a received opinion, that the sugar-cane 

 was brought into Europe during the Crusades, 

 and that we are therefore now enjoying the 

 sweets of those romantic expeditions. The 

 Arabian word of Succhar, coming so near to 

 the English name Sugar, seems to strengthen 

 the supposition ; and Albertus Aquensis, a 

 monkish writer, observes, that the Christian 

 soldiers, when in the Holy Land, frequently 

 derived refreshment and support during a 

 scarcity of provisions, by sucking the canes m 

 These appear to have been first planted in 

 the Morea, and in the Islands of Rhodes and 

 Malta, from whence they were transplanted 

 into Sicily ; but at what exact period is un- 

 certain. It must, however, have been some 



