138 The West American Scientist. 



tucket, Massachusetts, on August 1, 1818. Her father was 

 William Mitchell, a teacher and astronomer, and Maria, when 

 only eleven years of age, became his assistant in his astronomi- 

 cal observations and computations, andacquhed her education 

 under her father's tuition, At eighteen years of age, Miss 

 Mitchell was appointed librarian of the Nantucket Athenaeum, 

 which position she filled lor twenty years. She still pursued her 

 studies and researches in astronomy, and on October 1 1 , 1847, 

 she discovered a comet, and this discovery introduced the young 

 astronomer to the notice of the world; she received a gold medal 

 from the King of Denmark and a copper medal from the Repub- 

 lic of San Marino, Italy. In 1858 she visited Europe, and 

 while there was the honored guest of Sir John Herschel and Sir 

 George B. Airy, Le Verrier and Humboldt. The women of 

 America, under the leadership of Miss Elizabeth Peabody oi 

 Boston, presented Miss Mitchell, upon her return, with a large 

 telescope. In 1865 she was appointed Professor of Astronomy 

 and Director ol the Observatory at Vassar College, which post 

 she retained until January, 1888, when she offered her resigna- 

 tion. This the trustees refused to accept, but granted her an in- 

 definite leave of absence. She was employed in certain work for 

 "The American Nautical Almanac" for some time, even after 

 her appointment as a prof, ssor at Vassar. Of late years Miss 

 Mitchell had made the study ol sun-spots and the satellites of 

 Jupiter and Saturn her special object. She was the first woman 

 elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and 

 Scieixes. In 1852 Dartmouth College conferred upon her the 

 degree of LL. D., and Columbia honored her with the same 

 degree in 1887. Her published writings were wholly upon 

 scientific topics, if we except a few poems contributed to a book 

 entitled "Sea-weeds from the Shores of Nantucket," published 

 in 1853. 



A Rival of Indian Corn. — A possible rival to Indian corn 

 has been lately added to the fod-plants prooduced in this coun- 

 try. This new plant is called sweet cassava, and is closely 

 related to the Ricinus, or castor-bean, which it resembles, al- 

 though it is a handsomer plant than Ricinus. It bears very little 

 seed, and is not propagated from seed, but from cuttings of the 

 larger stems; and the roots produce great tubers, sometimes 

 three or four feet in length, which seem to be a most wholesome 

 article of food for men or cattle. By manufacture, cassava may 

 be converted into starch, tapioca, aud glucose, with scarcely 

 any waste. In the tropics, cassava flour is used for making 

 crackers or wafers, which are very platable and will keep for 

 months; and Florida housekeepers have used it for making bread, 

 puddings, custards, etc., while as a vegetable it may be cooked 

 in all ways that white potatoes are. On the southern border ot 

 the United States there are considerable areas admirably adapted 

 to growing this remarkable plant as a staple article of home con- 



