12 



POPULAE ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



thin hair-like pedicels of an elegant loose panicle, less how- 

 ever than that of the Oat. Although several ill effects, and 

 even cholera"^ itself, have been attributed to the use of this 

 food, nevertheless these accusations are not well-founded, 

 for, on the contrary, rice appears from its astringency to 

 be admirably adapted to the use of the natives of warm cli- 

 mates, where it nsually constitutes the staple food of the 

 lower classes. Its antiquity is very great : Cast thy bread 

 upon the waters, and it shall return to thee after many 

 days,^^ evidently applies to rice, which, in Egypt, is always 

 sown whilst the waters of the Nile still cover the surface of 

 the land ; the returning floods leave a thick deposit of rich 

 alluvial silt, in which the rice vegetates luxuriantly, being 

 naturally a marsh plant. The rice from the Southern States 

 of North America is decidedly the best, being much sweeter, 

 larger, and better-coloured than that of Asia, where its cul- 

 tivation is less carefully managed. The States of Carolina 

 produce the best American, and Patna the best East Indian 

 rice. 



Like wheat and other grain, the rice is that particular 



* In the ^Lancet/ 1833-4, vol. i., Dr. Tytler attributes malignant 

 cholera to the use of rice as food, in consequence of which he named the 

 disease morbus oryzeus. 



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