60 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



boiled, especially with salt," I may say that the wild variety can be 

 rendered partially (for I cannot say entirely) innocuous when well boiled 

 with or without salt, but more so when boiled with acid fruits and 

 vegetables. Generally the wild variety is not made use of for culinary, 

 but only for medicinal purposes under the name of Madan-Mast 

 as already observed. The wild variety is used as food in exceptionally 

 hard times such as a famine. In the Dekkan famine of 1877-78 the 

 leaf and tuber of the wild variety were used as food in the Khandeish 

 District, probably not without boiling nor without the addition of salt. 

 I say probably, because the wild tuber is very acrid, and under no 

 circumstances can it be solely used without intense irritation of the 

 mouth, throat, and tongue. In the cultivated plant too, there is some- 

 times a good deal of acridity, which, though not noticeable at the time 

 of eating, is distinctly recognized shortly after eating. It even irritates 

 the skin of the finger-tips as it is being cut by delicate female hands 

 for culinary purposes in Hindu homes. Of this there is no doubt. 

 Much of this acridity of the cultivated variety is got rid of by boiling. 

 The slight persistent acridity would seem to be due to the presence of 

 the stiffer and bolder white crystals which Dr. Nasarvanji pointedly 

 observes are present even when the pulp of the wild variety is boiled 

 with distilled water and the brown crystals are completely dissolved. 



It is to be hoped that Dr. Nasarvanji may some day be able to 

 complete his investigation of the tubers of Suran, or that some 

 qualified chemical analyst may take the matter up and ascertain 

 the exact nature of the needle-shaped crystals. That they act 

 mechanically there is not the least doubt ; guided by the researches 

 of Warden and Pedler, this can be the only conclusion one can arrive 

 at. In my own practice I have seen cases of distinct irritation of 

 the throat, mouth, and tongue after the use of boiled Suran. In the 

 practice of Dr. Sakharam Arjun and Dr. Vinayak Govind Gidh, 

 swelling of the tongue and salivation were noticed in addition. 



Notanda et Corrigenda in Plate K. 

 (i) For Amorhophallus campanulatus read Amorphophallus campanulatus 

 (Blume). 



(ii) For ' read Inflorescence and tuber, 



and Bulb 



(iii) Note that B is a vertical section of the spadix and spathe. The 

 spathe is fully seen at the right of the reader, and only partially at the left, 

 it being cut horizontally a little below where the pistilliferous portion of the 

 spadix terminates. 



(iv) The two bodies at the lower corner to the right of the reader are the 

 female parts of the flower stalk twice magnified. 



