SAGO. 81 



where it is extensively manufactured by a process which 

 is not known, but said to be very difficult ; this however 

 can only arise from the tenacity with which the starch gra- 

 nules are held in the cellular tissue, and the consequent 

 difficulty in washing them out. , About 10 tons are annually 

 imported. It is entirely confined to dietetic purposes. 



Sago. — The fecula of several species of Palms, but chiefly 

 from Sagm Rumphii (Plate IX. fig. 43), S. lavis, and Sa- 

 ffuerus Hump/iii. 



These Palmacea are palm-trees of moderate size, from 

 twenty to thirty feet in height, and usually found in swampy 

 or marshy situations. The Sago-palms have thick stems, 

 which externally are hard like that of the bamboo ; the in- 

 terior is filled with pith, or cellular tissue, which contains an 

 enormous quantity of starch or sago. This large supply of 

 vegetable nutriment is provided for the maturation of the 

 fruit ; for no sooner has the flowering of the palm ceased, 

 and the fruit begun to form, than the cells, with their store 

 of fecula, all disappear, leaving the stem., quite a hollow 

 shell. This is one of those wondrous provisions of an all- 

 wise Creator for carrying out the beautifully varied arrange- 

 ments of the Vegetable Kingdom, and at the same time 

 furnishing food to his favoured creature man. 



