STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 



fine white starchy powder, similar to Arrowroot, which is 

 prepared much in the same way as Potato starch. The 

 pulp, after being ground or pounded, is thrown into clean 

 water and stirred; after settling the water is poured off 

 and the white sediment is again submitted to the same 

 process until it becomes quite pure and is then dried. A 

 pound of this starch may be made from a peck of the 

 roots. The roots should be dried in sand before using. 

 Thus purified and divested of its poisonous qualities, the 

 powder so procured becomes a pleasant and valuable 

 article of food, and is sold under the name of Portland 

 Sago or Portland Arrowroot. 



When deprived of the poisonous acrid juices that per- 

 vade them, all our known species may be rendered valuable 

 both as food and medicine; but they should not be 

 employed without care and experience. 



There seems in the vegetable world, as well as in the 

 moral, two opposite principles, the good and the evil. The 

 gracious God has given to man the power, by the cultiva- 

 tion of his intellect, to elect the good and useful, separating 

 it from the vile and injurious, thus turning that into a 

 blessing which would otherwise be a curse. 



" The Arum family possesses many valuable medicinal 

 qualities," says Dr. Charles Lee, "but would nevertheless 

 become dangerous poisons in the hands of ignorant 

 persons." 



The useful Cassava, Jatropha manihot (Lin.), of the 

 West Indies and tropical America, is another remarkable 

 instance of Art overcoming Nature and obtaining a positive 

 good from that which in its natural state is evil; the 

 Cassava flour from which the bread made by the 

 natives is manufactured, being the starchy parts of a 

 poisonous plant of the Euphorbia family, the milky juice 



28 



