«.,. maub.] GRAMINACE.S 



The uses of this nn >-t imperial I tribe of plants, for I 



require little illustration. The abundant f wholesome 



renders them peculiarly well adapted for the sustenanc 



(ir.issvs only, mu-1i x- Wheat, Barley, R e, Oats, M 



the lands commonly employed, it i- because ol tl 



pared with that of other Grasses ; for Done are unwholesome in th< 



with tl xception of Lolium U mulentum, a common weed in man) ; 



the effects of which are undoubtedly deleterious, altb 



mns purgana and catharticuB, -siid t" l»- emetic and piu 



to be unwholesome, an tuca quadridentata, which is said to 1 



where it is called Pigonil. To these must I"- added Molinia varia, in 



according t.> Eindlicher ; and .1 varietj dum Bcrobiculatum, «-:».l 1« -« 1 Hi n 



Indii Plants, 234), which i- perhaps 



Indian poisonous oder the milk onitnarc 



drastic. < .'/ , 107). It is however uncertain how far thi 



ous action of some of these maybi ■< mechanical h, in the 



tin- species of Calan and Stipa seem to !>•• the 



quenoe of their roughness and bristles. In their qualities the ; 



approach the propertii a of putrid Wheat, winch i> known to be da;.. 



Among corn plants 1- Be gt nerally known may be mentioned EUeusin 

 Natchnee, on the Coromandel coast, and Nag , or Mand, elsewhere in Indii ; \ 



laris eanariensis, which yields the canarj seed ; Zizania aquatics or Canada Rio ; I 

 palmn Bcrobiculatum, the Menya or Kodro of India, a cheap grain, • 

 some ; Setaria gennanica, yielding German millet; Panicum frum 

 Shamoola, in the Deccan ; Setaria italics, cultivated in India under the i 

 kangnee or Kora kang ; Panicum miliaceum, :i grain called Warree in 

 P. pilosum, called Bhadlee. Penicillaria spicata or Bajree : Androj 

 Durra, 1 toora, Jowaree or Jondla; and Andropogon Baccharatus or Shaloo, ar wn 



in India for their grain. A kind of fine-grained corn, called, on th< odi 



or Fundungi, is produced by Paspalum exile ; and finally, both tl 

 Abyssinian corn plants, arc Bpecies of this order ; the former Poa abyssinica, tl 

 EUeusdne Tocueso, (Z 39). Even Stipa pennata is said to product a flour much 



like that of Rice. 



value of Grasses as fodder for cattle is hardly s .... 



human food. Th I Ider Grass s of E tally dwarfs] 



such as do not rise more than ■"} or 4 feet above the ground, and of tin se tl. 

 hands are apt to become hard and wiry ; the most i steemed are LoUum p< n nne, Phleum 

 and Festuca pratensis, Cynosurus cristatus, and various -; 



Festuca, to which should be added Anthoxanthum odoratum for its fragrance. But ih^ 

 fodd Brazil are of :i far more gigantic stature, and perfectly 



deUcate. We learn from Nees von I- . that the Caapim de \ 



Panicum s\ octal ilfi, grows 6 or 7 feet high : while other equally giganti : 

 stitute the field crops on the banks of the Amazons. In New Holland the favourit 

 the Anthistiria australis or Kangaroo Grass ; in India the A. cilial 

 But the most common Indian fodder Grass appears to I"- Doorl a, D 

 lee, Cynodon Dactylon. Gama Grass, Tripsacum dactyloides, 

 as fodder in .Mexico ; and attention has lately been directed to the 

 Falkland-, Festuca fiabellata, a Bpecies forming tufts 5 or 6 1 

 unrivalled for its excellence as food for cattle and horses. (S 

 ,p. 131). 



The fragrance of our sweet Vernal Grass (Anthoxanthum), is bj 

 to it Other species are Hierochloe 1 i , Ataxia Horsfieldii,i 

 their odour is said to be owing to the pn - 

 species are Andropogon Iwarancusa and Schoananthus, the latter th 

 English gardens ; A. Calamus aromaticus, which Dr. R 

 name described by Dioscorides, and the "sweet cane" and "rich ar 

 a far country" of Scripture ; and the Anatherum muricatum, i 

 French, and Khus in India, where its fragrant i 

 ra for palanquins, &c 



This fragrance is connected with aromatic - which hat 



mended ■ to the aoti e of mc real practitioners. 1 



(Anatherum muricatum), is said to be acrid, ■ 

 another species, A. Nardus, is called, because of it- quality, G 

 The roasted leaves of An lr pogon S 

 excellent stomachic. An essential oil • I 

 in the Moluccas; and the Jai U much 



