136 [Assembly 



arrow-root" or " Georgia, Bermuda arrow-root," at your option. 

 The article is manufactured by me, and is made from precisely the 

 same root as tha'. from Bermuda and the other West India Islands, (but 

 more generally and favorably known as Bermuda,) viz., the " Ma- 

 sania Arundinacea,^'' for a full description of which, I beg. to refer 

 you to Dr. Ure's Dictionary of Arts, &c., and the supplement to the 

 same. I have been particular in requesting that it may be exhibi- 

 ted under one of the above names; as I find that the potato starch (so 

 extensively made in Boston and vicinity,) wheat starch, and various 

 others, are known generally as " American Arrow-root.^' Without 

 any disparagement to either of these, I wish mine to be distinguish- 

 ed from them, as being genuine arrow-root, which I am willing to 

 ^'have submitted to the severest tests, in order to prove its purity. Jt 

 is made with the strictest attention to cleanliness, and superintended 

 personally by myself. Had I been so disposed, I might have introdu- 

 ced it into market as Bermuda arrow-root; but I scorn the fraud, and 

 am willing that it should stand or fall upon its own merits, although 

 pecuniarily, this determination has made me a great loser. Still I 

 am resolved to adhere to it. 



I beg also to forward a small package of Starch, made from the 

 root of the Manioc (Jatropha manihot,) commonly known in South 

 America, as the Yuca, and in very common use as a vegetable, either 

 boiled or roasted. I am not aware that any attempts have been 

 made in this country to obtain the starch of this plant. According 

 to Dr. Ure, (see Cassava,) the fresh juice of this plant, when distil- 

 led, affords a very active poison, thirty-six drops of which are suffi- 

 cient to cause death in the course of six minutes. It was used by 

 Indians for poisoning their arrows. He adds, " as the active prin- 

 ciple of this juice is volatile, it is easily dissipated by baking the 

 squeezed cakes of pulp upon a plate of hot iron," which is the well 

 known Cassava bread or cake of the West Indies or South America. 

 The starch of this plant "is called cicipa, in French guaayana; it 

 is employed for many delicate articles of cooking, especially pastry, 

 as also for hair powder, starching linen, &c." For the last two or 

 three years, the root has been used at my table as a vegetable, and 

 is much liked by my family. I myself have eaten it abroad, more 

 than twenty years ago. Will you have the goodness to exhibit the 

 specimen sent at the fair. 



After the exhibition, the sample sent may be placed at the dispo- 

 sal of the Institute. At the last fair, 1845, a sample of my arrow- 

 root was exhibited by my agent, Mr. S. Burkhalter, corner of Church 



