ANNATTO. 
171 
the little grains of starch swell and burst, and 
afterwards they stick to each other, forming the 
rough, white lumps of tapioca. 
6. Even the poisonous juice of the bitter cassava 
can be used after it has been poured away from 
the starch. By boiling this juice for a long time 
most of the water in it will pass away into the 
air. What remains will become thicker and 
thicker as the boiling goes on, until it looks some- 
thing like molasses. 
7. This we call cassareep, and we use it in 
making sauces; or we boil it with meat, or fish, 
and other things, to make the well-known dish 
of ''pepper-pot", which many people enjoy so 
much. 
ANNATTO. 
1. '' Here are some seeds that are put to a use 
we have not yet spoken of in our talks about 
plants," said Mr. Scott to his class at school. I 
have just shaken them out of this bristly husk, 
and if you count them you will find between 
thirty and forty of them. These small annatto 
seeds all have a red, waxy coating over them, and 
that is the part which we use. 
2. " More than 400 years ago, the men from 
Europe who first went to America and the West 
