LV. GEAMINE^. 891 



races, as well as Eleusine coracana, which is a great resource in India when the Rice crop fails. Maize 

 (Zea Mays), Which formerly served as food to the American races, is now spread over the whole world. 

 Bromm Mango, a species near our S. secalimts, was cultivated in Kouth Chili hefore the arrival of 

 Europeans; the Araucanians have now ahandoned it for the cereals of the Old World. Sorghum vulgare 

 and PenidUana apicata are the support of the negro race. The inhabitants of East Africa cultivate Poa 

 ahyssinica, Ehusine, and our European cereals, which are often infested by various cryptogamic parasites 

 (Rust, Smut, Ergot), of which we shall treat under Fungi. 



The Sugar-cane (Saecharum offlainamni) is, in all probability, a native of tropical Asia ; it has 

 been cultivated from very ancient times in the East Indies. After the conquests of Alexander it 

 became known in Europe ; and towards the end of the thirteenth century it was introduced from 

 India into Arabia and the Mediterranean region. At the beginning of the fifteenth century the Portu- 

 guese planted it in Madeira, where it prospered, and whence it passed to the Canaries and to St. Thomas. 

 In 1506 the Spaniards introduced it into St. Domingo ; it rapidly increased there, and soon spread over 

 all tropical America, where it has produced numerous varieties. It is especially the lower part of its 

 culm which yields the sap from, which is extracted the readily crystallizable principle so universally 

 used as a food, condiment and medicine. Cane-sugar is fermentable, like that of many other vegetables ; 

 and it is from the non-crystallizable syrup (treacle), which remains after the crystallization of the sugar, 

 and which is submitted to spirituous fermentation, that rum is obtained by distillation. Sorghum sac- 

 charatvm, the stem of which is very rich in sugar, is cultivated in China, Africa, &c. 



A considerable number of Graminece are medicinal. The rhizome of the Dog's-tooth Grass (Triticum 

 repens), which infests cultivated ground in Europe, is used as an emollient and aperient tisane ; other Euro- 

 pean species- (r. glaucum a.nd junceum, and Cynodon Dactylon) possess similar properties; as also does the 

 Cynodon lineare, of India, and Andropogon bicornis, of tropical America. Aruiido Donax is a large reed, 

 of which the root is diuretic and sudorific. Formerly that of Phragmites communis was prescribed as a 

 depurative and anti-syphilitic. Calamagrostis is considered diuretic by the French peasants. Perotis lati- 

 folia has the same reputation in India. 



The mucilaginous seeds of Bai-ley are still used, as in the time of Hippocrates, in the preparation of 

 a diluent and cooling drink ; they are also used in the making of beer. Under the influence of moist 

 heat they are allowed to germinate, a process which converts the starch into sugar ; this sugary matter 

 is dried and pulverized, and its decoction, flavoured with hops, is submitted to spirituous fermentation. 

 The seeds of Rice are emollient, like those of Barley, and slightly astringent. They are equally ferment- 

 able, and yield by distillation an alcohol called arrack. 



Coix Lachryma (Job's Tears), a native of tropical Asia, and cultivated in China [and India], is a 

 monoecious Grass, remarkable for its ? spikelets enveloped in an involucre which becomes stony when 

 ripe ; its seeds are considered in China to be tonic and diuretic, and are administered in a tisane in phthisis 

 and dropsy. The root of Manisuris granularis is prescribed in India for obstructions of the bowels. 

 A decoction of the seeds of Daotyloetenium mgyptiacum is renowned in Africa as an alleviator of 

 nephritic pains, and its herbaceous parts are applied externally for the cure of ulcers. 



Andropogons have aromatic roots, whence) some species are used in India as stimulants. Such are 

 A. Nardus or False Spikenard; A. Iwarunkusa, Paranaura, anA. citratus (Lemon Grass). The leaves of 

 the Sweet Rush {A. laniger and Schamanthus), of Africa and Arabia, are prescribed in the East for their 

 stimulating, antispasmodic, diaphoretic qualities. The Vetiver or Viti-Vayr [or Kus-Kus], is the very 

 sweet-scented fibrous root of Andropogon muricatus, first imported into Europe about fifty years ago, which 

 is used in India to perfume rooms and to preserve stuffs and clothes from insects ; according to Vauquelin, 

 it contains an aromatic principle, analogous to Myrrh, and possesses the stimulating propeitiea of its 

 cono-eners. [The roots are made into fans, and worked into slips of bamboo to form the screens used to 

 mitio-ate the heat in India.] The Bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea and verticillata [and many other 

 species]) is used in building in China and Japan. The young shoots of these two trees contain a sugary 

 pith, which the Indians seek eagerly ; when they have acquired more solidity a liquid flows spontaneously 

 from their nodes, and is converted by the action of the sun into drops of true sugar. The internodes of 

 the stems often contain siliceous concretions, of an opaline nature, named tabashecr [a substance presenting 

 remarkable optical properties]. Several American Bamboos contain a very fresh drinkable water, sought 

 by Indians and travellers. 



