84 INDIAN TURNIP. 



anthers, the fertile or fruit-bearing flowers of a one-eelled ovary. 

 The fruit, when ripe, is bright searlet, clustered round the lower 

 part of the round (leshy scape. As the berri(?s ripen, the hood 

 or sheath withers and shrivels away to admit the ripening rays 

 of heat and light to the fruit. 



The root of the Indian Turnip consists of a round, wrinkled, 

 (leshy corni, somewhat larger than that of the garden crocus; 

 from this rises the simple scape or stem of the plant, which is 

 sheathed with the base of the leaves. These are on long naked 

 stalks, divided into three ovate pointed leaflets, waved at the edges. 



The juices of the Indian Turnip are hot. acrid, and of a 

 poisonous <iuality, but can be ren<lered useful and harmless by the 

 action of heat; the roots roasted in the tiro are no longer poisonous. 

 The Indian herbalists use the Indian Turnip in medicine as a 

 remedy in violent colic, long experience having taught them in 

 what manner to employ this dangerous root. 



The Arum belongs to a natural order, most plants of which 

 contain an acrid poison, yet under proi)er care can be made valu- 

 able articles of food. Among these we may mention the roots 

 of Colocosia mucronatiim, violaceum^ and others, which, under the 

 more familiar names of Eddoes and Yams, are in common use 

 in tropical countries. 



The juice of Arum triphyUmh our Indian Turnip, has been 

 used, boiled in milk, as a remedy for consumption. 



Portland sago is prepared from the larger species, Arum 

 macukitum, Spotted Arum. The corm, or root, yields a fine, white, 



