March I, 1890.] 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agncu/hmst." 
661 
of diet both for healthy persons and invalids, and Dr. 
Voeloker points out that the principal matter to be 
attended to with regard to milk is perfect cleanliness. 
A good supply of pure cold wnter is an absolute 
necessity. The milk will require to be cooled, the 
vessels to be washed, and the animals water to drink, 
and in all and any ot these an impure supply will 
spoil the produce and the animals, not to speak of the 
dissemination of infectious diseases. 
Mr. Charles Benson, m.e.a.c., of the Madras Agri- 
cultural Department, makes the following pertinent 
remarks about the milk supply of Madras ;— " It may 
not be out of place to remark here that the 
adulteration of milk with water (if the water be 
good) is, after all, only a minor evil, the loss being- 
only in the pocket. It is a far more serious matter 
if the milk has been obtained from a cow suffering 
from disease, or if the water the cow drinks, or that 
added to the milk, contain minute forms of organized 
life. Though the ill-effects of drinking the milk of a 
cow suffering from disease are not always apparent, 
especially ip the case of adults, there are many well 
authenticated cases in which disease and death have been 
traced directly to the ill-effects of drinking diseased 
milk ; chiefly amongst children who are the largest 
consumers of milk in its unprepared state. Recent 
mioroscopic investigations have revealed the fact that 
if a oow is allowed to drink impure w^ter (and few 
dairy cows drink anything else in this part of India) 
containing animaloulse, the same animalcules, may be 
found in its milk." It has been suggested that offlcer s 
should be appointed to inspect the milk supplied to 
consumers in Madras, but mere inspection of the milk 
would be useless. The only effective way would be to 
inspeot the dairy cattle and dairies, and to allow no 
milk to be sold except by licensed dairy men." 
I leave it to my readers to suppose how far the 
above remarks are applicable to the milk supply of the 
oity of Colombo. The ditches and stagnant pools of 
water found in the cinnamon gardens teem with 
millions and millions of animalcules, and yet a driuk 
at one of these is the only water most of the cows kept 
by our milkmen get. Aba . 
■ •♦ 
FINE GRAINS OF CEYLON. II. 
Sing: Kurrakkan. Eleusina Corcana. 
By W. A. De Silva. 
This grain is largely cultivated in the dry regions of 
the island, aud its cultivation and use is also very com- 
mon in the different districts of India. In India this 
grain is commonly known as Rag i, and forms almost 
the staple food of a large number of inhabitants. The 
cultivation of kurrakkan is chiefly carried on in dis- 
tricts where the rainfall is very low and the success of 
f.he rice crop is doubtful. There are two varieties 
of kurrakkau known aud cultivated in Ceylon, the two 
differing 'only in capacity of bearing. The kind 
which yields a scanty crop is known as Rila or Monkey 
kurrakkau, probably owing to the resemblanoe of the 
partitions of the seed panicle to the lean fingers of the 
monkey tribe The other variety of kurrakkan bears 
full panicles and yields a better crop. There are two 
seasons for the sowing o£ this grain, known as Yala 
and Maha, the seasons being regulated as those that for 
paddy. Bub the greater part of the grain is sown for 
Maha season, that is in August. 
In general these fioe grains are sown in chenas 
but it is not uncommon to see other lands under 
this crop. 
The preliminary operations in the preparation are 
done early. The low scrub and jungle is hewn down 
and the whole is sot fire to; after that the land is hoes 
and the unburnt tufts of grass are again fired on heap. 
This time the ashes are evenly spread on the land and 
the grain is scattered. After the scattering of the grain 
it is customary to cover the seed up by a process of 
hoeing. The crop is reaped in four months' time. One 
difficulty and waste in the reaping of kurrakkan is, 
that all the ears do not ripen at one time. 
The ears of kurrakkan aro ihreshed out by pounding 
and the grain after being winnowed and dried has to be 
turned into flour before using it as food in any form. 
The preparation of flour cannot be effected in the 
ordinary way of soaking and pounding in a mortar 
which is the common way in case of rice — as the 
grains are very small, about the size of mustard seed, 
and the outer covering is very hard. A grinding 
stone made of two slabs of round granite blocks is used 
in preparing the flour. The flour thus prepared is 
cooked in different ways and eaten. 
Kurrakkan, though containing an appreciable quantity 
of nitrogenous matter, is poor in nutritive properties for 
want of other constituents; and owing to the difficulty of 
digesting, Prof. Church, in his Food Grains of India, 
compares the Eleufine as 1-13 as its nutrient ratio. When 
this grain is taken alone it is said that it does not afford 
sufficient nourishment for the support of a healthy 
population. But in spite of this, it forms the staple food 
in many districts of India and in some parts of Ceylon 
without any appreciable degeneration in those who use 
the article, perhaps as they do not take it alone but mix 
with a variety of substances. The principal reason 
why this grain is adopted as a food is because it 
grows well under unfavourable conditions and is con- 
sequently very cheap. Kurrakkan used with curd is 
popularly supposed among the people to he as healthy 
a food as any other substance. We read in Indian 
papers that experiments are being made with a view 
to introduce this grain to Europe, not for cultivation, 
but for the use of the poorer classes who are said to 
semi-starve for want of a cheap f >od. We cannot 
expect kurrakkan to be as healthy as other grainsj 
but when the cost and comparative facilities of its 
production are taken into account, it will compare 
favourably with any other grain as a food material. 
Some believe that the disease paranyi which exists in 
some parts of Ceylon where kurrakkan is consumed, 
is caused by its use. I think it is not quite correot to 
