412 ON THE MILLETS AND OTHER SMALL-GRAINED GRASSES. 



way. Here the oxidising material is put upon the piece of wood, and 

 the allotropic phophorus is put upon the friction paper mixed with the 

 emery. This piece of wood does not, therefore, become a match until I 

 take off a certain quantity of that phosphorus along with my oxidising 

 material, by rubbing it upon the paper upon which the emery and phos- 

 phorus are spread. The value of that device is great, because there can 

 be no accidental firing, as in the ordinary matches. Trampling upon 

 them, or leaving them too near the fire, cannot make them ignite, 

 because the match is not a match until it is drawn over the sand 

 paper and takes up phosphorus. Accidental ignition is thus pre- 

 vented. 



ON THE MILLETS AND OTHER SMALL-GRAINED GRASSES, 

 USED FOR HUMAN FOOD IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. 



BY P. L. SIMMONDS. 



What is Millet ? Doubtless every reader will think he can very 

 readily reply to this simple question. But we fancy that, like the defini- 

 tion of Corn, it will vary considerably with the locality and the 

 experience of the person answering the inquiry. The " corn '' of Eng- 

 land is not the " corn " of the United States, for while we apply the 

 term to wheat, the Americans restrict it to maize. In Scotland again 

 the name corn is given to oats, and still further north, in Sweden, Ice- 

 land, &c, barley is the bread corn of the country. So with the term 

 Millet, the word has a widely extended signification, and embraces the 

 edible seed of grasses of various genera very dissimilar in habit and 

 appearance. 



What is generally known as Millet in popular parlance in England 

 is the seed, chiefly yellow, of the Panicum miliaceum sold in seed-shops 

 for feeding cage-birds. But the collective term takes in a much greater 

 range of product. Iu many countries the millets form large and 

 important staple food-crops, and in some years considerable quantities 

 are even imported into the United Kingdom. Thus, the imports here of 

 late years have been as follows : 



Millet. Dari. 



i cwts. 



7,542 



147,187 



171,277 



84,763 



960 



5,716 



1S53 



158,159 



1854 



16,470 



1855 



58,263 



1856 



41,284 



1857 



230,451 



1858 



58,866 



1859 



107,600 



1860 



53,624 



1861 



55,674 



