taste is bitterish and nauseous. The fresh tuber has a faint, 

 somewhat unpleasant smell, and a viscid, sweetish taste*. 

 " The entire tubers digested in water render the fluid gela- 

 tinous on the surface and smooth to the touch, but cannot be 

 made to deliquesce into a mucilage even by boiling. In order 

 to obtain a jelly, it is necessary that the tubers be previously 

 well pulverized, then mixed with tepid water and boiled, the 

 liquid being kept constantly stirring with a spatula or spoon ; 

 a jelly is thus obtained which is transparent, very soft, equal, 

 insipid, inodorous, and very glutinous. If the liquid be not 

 stirred, no jelly is formed, but the powder subsides and remains 

 at the bottom, in a swollen, somewhat gelatinous state, and, 

 although boiled, will not mix with the water. One drachm of 

 the powder is sufficient to gelatinize eight ounces of water. It 

 also forms a jelly with vinegar, but is not soluble in alcohol 

 and the expressed oils." t The powder appears to consist of 

 starch and mucilage, or Bassorin. As an article of food it is 

 very nutritious, and contains more farinaceous matter in a small 

 bulk than almost any vegetable. Hence it is very useful for 

 travellers and voyagers, especially as it does not require long 

 boiling nor much water, and, according to Percival J, may be 

 made with sea-water, the saltness of which it overcomes by the 

 mucilage it contains. Lind § states that the powdered root, 

 combined with dried animal jelly, affords an excellent food for 

 travellers. An ounce of each of these substances, dissolved in 

 four pints of water, affords sustenance sufficient for a man 

 during twenty-four hours ; and three pounds of each will sup- 

 port a person for a month. 



Medicinal Properties and Uses. — The tubers of Orchis have 

 enjoyed much reputation in former times for their aphrodisiac 

 and restorative powers, and many absurd statements of their 



* The inference deduced from the odour and form of the tubers, as to 

 their reputed effects upon the animal system, must have appeared to the 

 believers in the doctrine of signatures very confirmatory of the truth of 

 their hypotheses. From the odour of the root, Murray (App. Med. vol. v. 

 p. 287) inclines to think that there may be some foundation for its restor- 

 ative, independent of its nutritive qualities. 



•f Bergius, Mat. Med. torn. ii. p. 712. 



X Essays, Med. and Experimental, vol. ii. p. 37. 



§ Essay on Diseases of Hot Climates, Append, p. 338. 



