(*5) 



the various qualities of paper into the structure of which it 

 enters. Here also are the several stages and substances con- 

 nected with the production of straw paper. 



Sugars. Cases 6$ and 66. — Sugar is a very important 

 plant-product and it is of vast economic value. Sugar cane 

 (Saccharum) is the basis of the world's sugar supply. The 

 juice from the stems of the plant is boiled down and by other 

 processes is made into the principal crude products shown in 

 the cases and later into the commercial grades of sugar. 



The juices of other plants are also used in making sugar, 

 for example, in temperate regions, the sugar beet yields an 

 enormous amount, the sap of the maple tree is made into 

 maple sugar, while in tropical regions the sap of various 

 palms, such as the cocoanut palm and the sugar palm, is made 

 into palm sugar. 



Foods. Cases 67 to 84. — The very important section of 

 vegetable foods occupies the cases on the north side of the 

 west hall, opposite those containing the fibers. Here may 

 be seen the various plants and parts of plants commonly 

 used for food. In a few instances nearly the whole plant is 

 available, as in the mushroom, the morel and the truffle. 

 Usually, however, certain parts only are nutritious or desir- 

 able ; a few examples of these are as follows : sweet potatoes, 

 horseradish, carrots and beets are roots ; onions, potatoes and 

 Jerusalem artichokes are rootstocks; asparagus and poke 

 shoots are young stems; lettuce, beetrtops, spinach and parsley 

 are leaves; cauliflower and calamus-buds are inflorescences; 

 corn, rice, bananas, mulberries, gooseberries, apples, tomatoes 

 and oranges are fruits; while peanuts, walnuts, hickorynuts, 

 beans, almonds and chestnuts are seeds. 



Drugs. Cases 85 to 102 and 185 to 202. — The east hall 

 is given over to drugs. This, like the department of foods, 

 is large and important. The active principles or medicinal 

 agents are stored up in the tissues of the plant or in special 

 organs. The great majority of refined drugs are derived 

 from one or more of the parts of the plant, but in the case 

 of the white agaric, ergot, Irish moss, Iceland moss, winter- 



