ON THE MILLETS AND OTHER SMALL-GRAINED GRASSES. 421 



water for three or four days, furnishes the bousa or common beer of 

 the country similar to the quas of Russia. 



Egyptian, or Spiked Millet (Penicillaria spicata, Swz.; Holcus 

 spicatus, Linn. ; Panicum spicatum Roxb.), Kumboo, Tarn. ; Bajree, Hind. 

 Terminal cylindric spike erect, as thick as a man's thumb, from 6 to 9 

 inches long ; seed obovate, peach-coloured, smooth, with hilum. 



Raggee (Eleusine Coracana, Gaert. ; Cynosurus coracanus, Linn. ; 

 JSTatchanee, Hindust ; Mootamy, Malab ; Kayvaroo, Tarn.) Culms erect, 

 2 to 4 feet high, a little compressed, smooth ; spikes 4-6 digitate, in- 

 curved, secund 1 to 3 inches long ; seeds globular, brown, a little 

 wrinkled, covered with a thin aril. 



This is the most prolific of cultivated grasses, forming the chief diet 

 of the poorer classes of some parts of India, as Mysore, N. Circars, 

 slopes of the Ghauts, &c. On the Coromandal Coast it is known as the 

 Natchanee grain, and is the Raggee of the Mahomedans. In Teloogoo 

 the name of this grain is Ponassa. A fermented liquor is prepared from 

 the seeds called Bojah in the Mahratta country. 



Eleusine stricta, Roxb. — This species is cultivated in the Penin- 

 sula of India and Rajahmundry to a great extent. It differs from the 

 preceding in having the spikes straight, being of a larger size and more 

 productive. The seeds are also heavier, which cause the spikes to bend 

 down horizontally. 



All the millets prefer a light good soil, from which the water readily 

 flows after the heavy rains. In a favourable season, the farmers reckon 

 on an increase of about 120 fold. The variety known in Teloogoo as 

 Maddi ruba soloo requires a richer soil than the others, and in good 

 years, when the land fit for its cultivation can be procured, increases 

 five hundred fold. 



Canary Grass. — (Phalaris canariensis) generically named from 

 phalaros, brilliant ; in consequence of the shining character of the seeds. 

 Panicle contracted, so as to resemble an oval spike ; straw from one and 

 a half to two feet high ; grain smooth and shining, of a whitish colour, 

 difficult to thrash or separate from the glumes. Is cultivated to a 

 considerable extent in some parts of England chiefly as food for birds. 

 In the Canary Islands, it is ground into flour and made into a nutritious 

 bread by the inhabitants. It also forms a considerable article of com- 

 merce in Italy, and some very fine samples appeared in the collection 

 sent from that country to the Exhibition. 



Peruvian Rice. — (Chenopodium Quinoa, "VVilld.) In Chili and some 

 other parts of South America this plant ranks in utility next to the 

 potato, maize, and wheat, the leaves being used as greens, and the 

 seeds in soups, or eaten as rice. They also make an excellent beer. Mr. 

 Lawson states that on account of its ascertained suitability for our 

 climate, and its great productiveness, it would be well worthy of atten- 

 tion if the modes of preparing it for food were better understood. A 

 meal is obtained from the seed having a tinge of yellow. It con- 



