THE GRASS FAMILY. 



123 



Panicum italicum and P. miliaceum are commonly grown 

 in Europe as millet. 



Sugar {Saccharum officinarum). A strong cane-stemmed 

 grass, 10 — 12 feet high, producing a large feathery plume of 

 flowers. It is a native of the Eastern hemisphere, but like 

 many other plants that have been long under cultivation, 

 the cradle of its birth is not well known. It is found wild, 

 as well as cultivated throughout tropical and subtropical 

 Asia, and the islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It 

 was first known in India, from whence it is said to have been 

 brought to Europe by the Venetians about the middle of the 

 12th century, and was early cultivated in the islands of the 

 Mediterranean. It was afterwards introduced into Spain 

 and Portugal, and also to the continent of America, becoming 

 firmly established by the middle of the 16th century. It 

 has acted an important part in the social condition of the 

 world, the native Indian race, especially in America, being 

 driven before it, and the curly-haired African negro established 

 in his place, originally under the bonds of slavery. The 

 great supply of sugar imported to this country comes from 

 the West Indies and Brazil, as also from the Mauritius, of 

 which island it forms the staple product. Sugar is the ex- 

 pressed juice of the cane, which by boiling and other pro- 

 cesses becomes crystallized, and is called " brown sugar ;" 

 after being refined and cast in conical moulds it is loaf or 

 " lump sugar." The uncrystallized portion is called " treacle" 

 or molasses. From the scum and rough portions of the 

 latter rum is obtained by distillation. The sugar-cane is 

 probably the " sweet cane from a far country" spoken of in 

 Jeremiah, chap. vi. ver. 20. 



Bamboo {Bamhusa arundinacea). This is known as the 

 common bamboo of India, but there are other species of the 

 same habit. It is a perennial grass, the stems of which rise 

 from a strong rootstock, first appearing like large heads of 

 asparagus, and growing at a rapid rate. Two shoots in the 

 Palm House at Kew were daily measured, and in 70 days 

 they had attained the height of 36 feet. In Jamaica it is 



