482 



PRODUCTION OF 



Sect. XVII. 2.3. 



and converting it into a colourlefs acid, except where th 



o 



matter abounds in too great quantity 



Th 



etiolation of mofl: 



idently owing to the want of light, becaufe many of them 



of white potat 



J* 



)es, become green if they grow above ground. 

 The roots of fome aquatic plants are ufed in medicine both of 

 the bulbous and palmated kinds, as fcilla maritima, fquill or fea- 

 onion, and the iris luteus, yellow water fl; 



to 



d th 



acorus cala- 



mus, aromatic fl 



to 



Oth 



quati 



faid to have fuppl 



th 



the 



Egypt 



lotus 



rows in the N 



d 



fembles 



food, as the ancient lotus in Egypt, which has been by fome write 

 fuppofed to be the nymphaja nelumbo. Herodotus affirms in his E 



terpe, uw^.. ^^^y. ^^j^^^^a^y ^v/uviu ^ 



r 



lily ; and that the natives dry it in the fun, and take^the pulp out of 

 it, which grows like the head of a poppy, and bake it for bread. The 

 white-flowered and the yellow-flowered nymphaea of our ponds and 



has a palmated 



fometimes three inches in diameter 



I 



Siberia th 



of the butomus. fl 



to 



(h, are eaten; both 



hich well deferve further attention, as they grow fpontaneoufly 

 ir ditches and rivers, which at prefent produce no efculent vcge 



bles, and might thence become an article of ufeful 



S 



Se6l. IX. 2. 5. 



Some other aquatic roots, as well as terreflrial ones, might proba^ 

 bly become efculent and nutritive by boiling or roafting them to de- 

 flroy their acrimony. Or it is probable, that a wholefome ftarch miojh 



be obtained from them 



from the roots of white brvonia, as is af- 



firmed by M. Parmetier, by the fimple procefs of grating the root by 

 a bread-grater of tinned iron into cold water, and depriving it of its 



acrid mucilage by frequent cold abl 



And laftly, that th^y raigh 



be fo managed as to undergo fermentation either by previous germi 



afte 



nation, or by adding yefl to the j 



prefled from them 



boiling, and thus be converted into wine or beer, from which a fp 



4 



ht be diflilled 

 Th 



art of prefer V 



produced. See Se£l. XI. 2. 5 



hen taken out of the ground, 



confifts 



^ 



; 



