MANl] 



%\)z Erca^urn of 330ta««. 



718 



American, are described. They are woody 

 or shrubby plants growing from fleshy tu- 

 berous roots, their steins being without 

 prickles or glands, their leaves generally 

 long-stalked, palmately divided, and their 

 flowers, which are of separate sexes, dis- 

 posed in panicles in the axils of the leaves 

 or at the ends of the branches. 



Cassava or Mandiocca meal is yielded by 

 two so-called species, which, however, bear 

 such great resemblance to each other that 

 most botanists combine them. These are : 

 M. utilissima, the Bitter Cassava, a shrubby 



Manihot utilissima. 

 plant growing from six to eight feet high 

 or more, with erect somewhat twisted 

 knotty stems rising from long thick fleshy 

 cylindrical roots of a yellowish colour, con- 

 taining a poisonous milky juice, and bear- 

 ing deeply seven-parted leaves on very 

 long slender stalks, crowded together at 

 the tops of the branches ; and M. Aipi, the 

 Sweet Cassava, which differs principally 

 in having sweet wholesome roots of a red- 

 dish colour, and usually only five-parted 

 leaves ; but these differences are not of 

 specific value, and the plants must be re- 

 garded as varieties of one species. It is 

 quite clear, however, that while the root 

 of one is bitter and a most virulent poison, 

 that of the other is sweet and wholesome, 

 and is commonly eaten cooked as a vege- 

 table. Both of them, especially the bitter, 

 are most extensively cultivated over the 

 greater part of tropical America, and yield 

 an abundance of wholesome and nutritious 

 food, the poison of the bitter kind being 

 got rid of during the process of preparation 

 it undergoes. This consists in first reduc- 

 ing the large fleshy roots to a pulp by 

 grating them, the-poisonous juice being 

 then expelled by pressure, and the residual 

 mass pounded 'into si coarse meal resem- 

 bling bread-crumbs.which is madeintothin 

 cakes, or cooked in various ways, the heat 

 dissipating any remaining poison. The 



I poisonous expressed juice, if allowed to 



settle, deposits a large quantity of starch, 



known as Brazilian Arrowroot or Tapioca 



! meal, from which the tapioca of the shops 



j is prepared by simply torrefying the moist 



: starch upon hot plates, the heat causing 



j the starch grains to swell and burst and 



become agglutinated together. A sauce 



! called Cassareep, used for flavouring soups 



and other dishes, particularly the West 



Indian dish known as pepper-pot, is also 



prepared from this juice by concentrating 



and rendering it harmless by boiling. 



Another of the products of Cassava is an 

 intoxicating beverage called Piwarrie, but 

 the manner of brewing it is not calculated 

 to render it tempting to Europeans. It is 

 made by the women, who chew Cassava 

 cakes and throw the masticated material 

 into a wooden bowl, where it is allowed to 

 ferment for some days, and then boiled. It 

 is said to have an agreeable taste. [A. S.] 



MANIOC. (Fr.) Manihot utilissima. 

 MANINE. (Fr.) Clavaria digitata. 

 MANJACK. Cordia macrophylla. 

 MANISAN. A thick syrup obtained by 

 boiling the saccharine sap of Nipafruticans. 



MANISURIS. A genus of grasses be- 

 longing to the tribe Bottboellece, and con- 

 taining two species, both of which are 

 annuals, natives of the warmest parts of 

 Africa and the West Indies. [D. M.] 



MANITA. Cheirostemon platanoides. 



MANJIRIKA. An Indian name for Ocy- 

 mum Basilicum. 



MANKUCHOO. An Indian name for 

 Arum indicum. 



MANNA. A saccharine purgative pro- 

 duct discharged from the bark of various 

 species of ash, chiefly Ortius rotund if olia 

 and europwa. Similar substances are also 

 produced by the cedar, the oak, the cistus, 

 and by Eucalyptus mannifcra. — of Bri- 

 ancon. A turpentiny saccharine exuda- 

 tion from the larch. — of Mount Sinai. 

 A product of Tamarix mannifcra. — , HE- 

 BREW or PERSIAN. A product of Alhagi 

 Maurorum, or, according to others, of Ta- 

 marix mannifera : see Gex. — , POLAND. 

 Glyceriafluitans. 



MANNA CROUP. The prepared seeds 

 of Glyceriafluitans. 



MANNE DE PRUSSE. (Fr.) Glyceria 

 Uuitans. 



MANONIM. A name in Minnesota for 

 Zizania aquatica, or Wild Rice. 



MANSIENNE. (Fr.) Viburnum Lantana. 



j MANSOA. A genus of Bignoniacew, 

 named in honour of A. P. da Silva Manso, 

 a Brazilian botanist, and consisting of only 

 two species, both of which are climbing 

 shrubs with conjugate leaves furnished 

 ; with tendrils, and handsome white or violet 

 ' flowers arranged in panicles, havingabila- 

 ! biate calyx, the segments of which are di- 

 vided into five long lobes, a funnel-shaped 



