a eS 
Vol. II, No. 3.] Some instances of Vegetable Pottery. 65 
[N.S.] 
9. Some Instances of Vegetable Pottery— By Davin Hooper. 
Certain vessels are frequently made in India from the dried 
fruits of trees and used for holding water and liquid substances. 
of P 
portion is removed by excavation and washing, pia e dr ry, hard 
shell i a bottle- shaped vessel which serves many useful 
purpose 
While many of the soe eeepc hy in India take ior tdeotiinc of 
mad 
ware. There is ‘more than one instance in history o of vegetable 
matter being confused with earth or clay. ong ago as the 
fifth sear Prosper Alpinus noticed that the idvaered: pulp of 
the ,frui dansonta digitata, commonly known as the baoa 
was was as aoe Lemnia to those unacquainted with the original 
article. The genuine Lemnian earth of the Greeks, or Sphragide, 
was a yellowish-grey earth or clay found in ‘the Island of 
Stalimene (ancient Lemnos). It was regarded as a medicine in 
Turkey, and was esteemed as an antidote to poison and the plague. 
Another instance of confusion between vegetable and mineral sub- 
stances is the name Terra Japonica, formerly applied to the extract 
or saae of the Uncaria plant, neon was supposed to come from 
villagers adepts at making toy images of black catechu, and _ 
trations of their workmanship will be given in a future number o 
the Memoirs of this Society. 
owdered root of the turmeric (Curcuma sat i was 
ae ang formerly regarded as of mineral origin and 
no s Terra Merita, probably on account of its bat ery in 
pees o ee minerals. 
The pulpy parts of various astringent fruits have the nn 
plastic property of clay, and by hardening in the air, after bei 
moulded into pots, they are impervious to water, and have the maak 
tional advantage that they can fall to the ground without being 
broken 
e of the fruit of the aoula for making pottery was 
described in 1896 in a letter from Mr. James Martin, written from 
the Tumgaon ne hlpe ee Central Provinces, to the — 
on Economic Produc the Government of India. He writes 
‘‘T have come across a ware that is made by the Ba’ anjaras 
“of the district from the fruit ofthe aoula (Phyllanthus emblica ys 
“The fruit is collected and dried. It is then boiled in water until 
‘‘quite soft and pounded, the stones removed and the pulp beaten 
