120 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [April, 



The chief jungle products being used as food during the present 

 famine in Marwar are as follows : — 



1. JL'olhee. This is the root of Hymenocliaete grossa, of the na- 

 tural order Ci/peraceae, a tall rush which grows on the margins of 

 tanks. It is not eaten by cattle, but in times of famine the root is 

 eagerly dug up for human food. The fibres and dark cuticle being 

 removed, the solid part of the root is dried, ground, and made into 

 bread, a little flour being sometimes mixed with it. The accompany- 

 ing specimen of the bread I got from a man who, with his familyj 

 was making his dinner of it. Even when freshly made, the bread is 

 dark brown in colour, and has a sour and earthy taste. Roots of 

 other species of rushes besides that named above, are also collected 

 under the name of tl Mothee" but not in any quantity. 



2. " Kejra — The bark of Acacia leucophlcea, a tree common in 

 Rajpootana. Bread is made from the ground bark, with or without 

 the addition of flour. It has an astringent bitter taste, and is far from 

 palatable. On the principle of experimentam in corpora vili, I made 

 my sweeper fare on it for a day. The poor man suffered a good deal 

 of griping and discomfort in consequence. I found this to be the 

 usual experience for the first few days that either this or Molhee are 

 eaten, but ultimately the stomach gets accustomed to the nauseous 

 food. The young pods of several species of Acacia are eaten as vege- 

 tal iles even during times of plenty, and such of their seeds as had 

 ripened, were this season ground into a flour, but the quantity avail- 

 able was very small. 



3. JBroont or Bharoont. — The seed of Achgranthes aspera, a plant 

 common all over the plains of India. When the outer covering of 

 the seed has been removed, as in the specimen which I have forwarded, 

 a wholesome looking grain remains. The bread made from it is very 

 good, and is considered the best of all the substitutes for the usual 

 cereals. 



4. Gohliur-luiniec. — The capsules of Tribulus lanuginosus, of the 

 natural order Zygophyllacea, a decumbent herbaceous plant of wide 

 distribution in India. From the difficulty of collecting it, this does 

 not take a prominent place ;i^ a famine food. The unopened capsules 



round down into a rough kind of meal, but from the small pro- 

 portion which the contained seeds bear to the tough fibrous tissue of 



