dried by the natives and so preserved all the year ; which they 

 beat to powder and mingle it with their parched meal, and make 

 a delicate dish which they call Sautauthig, which is as sweet to 

 them as plum or spice cake to the English."^ 



Until very recently no attempt has ever been made at improve- 

 ment by cultivation. 



USES OF THE FRUIT. 



As before noted, the records concerning the uses and distribu- 

 tion of the vacciniums are meagre. Enough is known, how- 

 ever, to indicate that from the earliest times various species have 

 been recognized as of value for food or ornament. Pliny^ 

 mentions the use of vaccinia to dye the garments of bond-slaves 

 to a purple color. 



Dodoens, in 1578, says :' "With the juyce of them (especially 

 of the black kinde) is made a certayne medicine called of the 

 apothecaries Rob, the which is good to be holden in the mouth 



against great drieth and thirst in boat agues Fen or 



Marrische (marsh) Whortes doe also quenche thirste, and are 

 good against all evil inflammation or heat of the blood." 



Gerarde also, in 1633, writes:^ "The juice of the black 

 Whortleberries is boyled till it become thicke and is prepared or 

 kept by adding honey or sugar unto it : the apothecaries call it 

 Rob, which is preferred in all things before the raw berries 



themselves They be goode for a hot stomacke, they quench 



thirst, and allay the heate of burning agues The people of 



Cheshire do eat the blacke Whortles in creame and milke as in 



these south parts we eat strawberries The Red Whortle 



is not of such a pleasant taste as the blacke, and therefore not 

 so much used to be eaten; but they make the fairest carnation 

 color in the World." 



Parkinson, in 1640, quotes Gerarde concerning the medicinal 

 value of the "bilberries," and says further:^ "With the juyce 

 of the berries Painters do color paper or cards, doe make a kind 



> Roger Williams' Key, 231; cited by Tuckerman, toot note In JosseJyn's N. E. 

 Rarities, 92. 

 " Lib. 16 cop. 18, citeil by Gerarde, Herballe, ed. 2, 1419. 

 " Lyte'9 Dodoens, 670. 

 « Herballe, ed. 2,1419. 

 « Tlieatrum Botanicum, 1459. 



