82 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



lu order to procure the sago, it is of course necessary to cut 

 down the tree ; this is done before the flowers are developed ; 

 the stem is then cut into short lengths and split open, the 

 pith scraped out and submitted to repeated washings, which 

 separate the sago. By this operation the sago sinks in the 

 water, and the fibrous and cellular matter of the stem floats 

 and is easily separated ; the sago is afterwards dried in the 

 sun, and constitutes the sago-flour or sago-meal of commerce, 

 which is now used as starch by our manufacturers in consi- 

 derable quantities ; it is also used as food by the natives of 

 the Indian Archipelago, where the plants are native, and 

 where they are extensively cultivated. In order to fit this 

 sago-meal for food in the European market, the natives 

 submit it, whilst wet, to a curious process of granulation, 

 which, besides forming it into small round translucent bead- 

 like grains, gives it a pearly lustre. The exact method of 

 granulating sago is unknown to Europeans. 



There are two or three very distinct varieties of sago 

 known in commerce. The most common is the 2^6arl sago, 

 which is in grains about the size of coarse sand, but beau- 

 tifully rounded. The granulated sago is in larger grains, 

 about the size of a mustard-seed ; this is an elegant prepa- 

 ration, which is coining into more general use ; and lastly 



