Dec. 1606.] 



487 



Edible Products. 



I have given above the Tci.mil and Sinhalese names lor P. Miliaceum and 

 P. Miliar e. 



Wal-Meneri, wal=wild, is P. trypheron a closely allied grass. 



P. Miliaceum is the most nutritious of cereals grown in Ceylon, and 

 P. Miliare only a little inferior to it. They and " Amu" (Paspalum scrobiculatum) are 

 used in the Four and Seven Korales and in some parts of Uda-Nuwara by labourers 

 working away from home, as their mid-day meal, being boiled with coconut milk 

 if procurable, if not, with water, salt and chillies being added as a relish. 



Hackel in "True Grasses," p. 76, says :'' Cultivated from prehistoric times. 

 Native country unknown, but probably the East Indies, where, and in China and 

 Japan as well, it is yet much cultivated. It is raised to a considerable extent in 

 South Russia and Roumania, but only here and there in other parts of Europe. 

 Several varieties are distinguished by the colour of the fruit and the habit of the 

 panicles." 



The following, showing the alimentary value of cereals I have culled from 

 "Food Grains of India" by A. H. Church, M.A,, Oxon., F.C.8., F.I.C., to whose in- 

 structive publication those interested in the subject are referred. 



An adult man weighing 140 to 150 lbs. requires per diem about 

 Albuminoids ... ... 4'16 ozs. 



Oil or Fat 3"12 



Starch 14'29 



Albuminoids are the nitrogen compounds such as albumen, fibrin aud legu- 

 min, the chief formative and reparative compounds of food ; they may also yield fat, 

 and by their oxidation set free heat and actual energy. The carbon compounds such 

 as starch, sugar and oil serve to keep up the heat and do the work of the body by 

 the discharge of potential energy during oxidation in the organism. The fat of the 

 body is formed in part from the fat or oil in the food ; in part from the starch aud 

 sugar. 



In the following table " Nutrient-Ratio" is a term used to denote the pro- 

 portion of albuminoids to starch, including with the starch the starch equivalent 

 of any oil or fat present in the food, recent experiments having shown that one part 

 of vegetable oil or fat is practically equivalent to 2*3 parts of starch, 2'3 is accordingly 

 used in this table as the " Starch equivalent" of one part of oil. 



" Nutrient Value " refers to the sum total of the albuminoids, the starch and 

 the starch equivalent of oil. 



Name of Cereal. " Nutrient Ratio " or Albuminoids, Nutrient 



Albuminoids to Starch. percentage of. Value. 



Eleusine coracana ... 1 : 13 ... 5 '9 ... 84 



Paspalum Scrobiculatum ... 1 : 11*7 ... 7" ... 89 



Oryza Sativa ... ... 1 : 10*8 ... 73 ... 86J 



Panicum Crus-galli var. fru- 



mentaceum ... ... 1 : 9"5 ... 8 - 4 ... 88 



Panicum Miliare ... ... 1 : 8'4 ... 91 ... 85 



ZeaMays ... ... 1 : 8'3 ... 9'5 ... 88* 



Andropogon Sorghum var 



vulgare ... ... 1 : 8'2 ... 9'3 ... 86 



Pennisetum typhoideum ... 1 : 7"6 ... 10'4 ... 89| 



Setaria italica ... ... 1 : 7'4 ... 10"8 ... 91 



Panicum Miliaceum ... 1:6 ... 12 6 ... 89 



The standard "Nutrient-ratio" is set down as 1 : 5; from the above table it 

 will be seen that very few of the cereals approach sufficiently near to the standard 

 to form satisfactory aliments when used alone for any length of time. 



Panicum Miliaceum is the nearest and Eleusine coracana the furthest 

 removed from the standard nutrient ratio, and in the latter case those that live 

 entirely on kurakkan consume daily about 23, 2 ozs. too much of starch, 



