MATERIA MEDICA 87 
stems of the sugar-cane (megasse) serve as fuel for the furnaces of 
the sugar plantations. The straw of the cereal grasses is exten- 
sively used for straw plaiting for bonnets, hats, etc., retaining 
its natural polish for an indefinite time, the culms of Trdticum 
sfelta (Leghorn straw) being the best for this purpose. The wiry 
culms of some British grasses, e.g. Cynosurus cristatus and Molinia 
cerulea, are suitable for very fine plaiting, and are so used. In 
many tropical countries the bead-like grains of Cozy lachryma 
are used for ornamenting articles of dress. Azerochloe borealis, 
common in Northern Europe, contains an essential oil like that 
of the Sweet Vernal-grass; it is fragrant in a fresh state, and in 
Germany, Sweden, and Lapland is strewn about churches on festival 
days. It is almost superfluous to add that the straw of cereals is 
used for an infinite variety of purposes other than those already 
named—for thatching, bedding for animals, stuffing mattresses 
and many other articles, for matting, basket-work, for packing 
fragile articles and goods liable to damage in transit, and as a 
protective covering for bottles, etc. 
Starch obtained from the cereal grains is largely used in other 
ways than as food. It is separated trom wheat, rice, etc., by means 
of dilute caustic potash ; the starch chiefly used for laundry pur- 
poses is obtained in this way from rice, and is largely used in the 
muslin manufacture and calico printing, and for toilet powder and 
adhesive paste ; damaged wheaten flour is used for dressing cotton 
fabrics. In recent years an important industry has been developed 
in the manufacture of glucose or grape sugar, and of dextrin or 
British gum, from grain-starch, by means of a weak solution of 
sulphuric acid. Millions of bushels of maize are thus annually 
converted into glucose in the United States. The principal use of 
glucose is in brewing and distilling ; it is also employed in the 
manufacture of tobacco and candles, and very largely in confec- 
tionery and as a table syrup. Dextrin is used for dressing textile 
fabrics, and as an adhesive material for postage stamps, envelopes, 
labels, etc. The bran of flour-mills is now utilized for the prepara- 
tion of a superior table salt; the mineral matters contained in 
bran are separated by a special process and added in certain pro- 
portion to chloride of sodium. 
The medicinal uses of grasses are not of much importance, save 
perhaps in India. Some yield an essential oil, eg. Andropogon 
citratus, D.C., extensively cultivated in India and Ceylon, yields 
oil of verbena or lemon-grass oil, valuable in rheumatism and 
cholera ; the fresh young leaves are used in some parts of India 
as a substitute for tea. Andropogon Nardus, cultivated in Ceylon 
and Singapore, yields citronella oil, used for scenting soap, etc. 
From another species of Andropogon (A. Schenanthus), growing 
both wild and cultivated in India, roussa oil, or ginger-grass oil, is 
obtained ; it is a rubefacient, and applied externally in rheumatic 
affections; it is largely used in perfumery, and imported into 
Europe principally for adulterating attar of roses. Azchoxanthum 
odoratum yields a volatile oil called coumarin, similar to that of 
