THE LILIES 
243 
ductions are seldom brilliant or magnificent. Its bulbous 
root, which is called by the natives “ saranne, ’ ^ contains 
a farinaceous substance that is remarkably nutritious. 
The gathering of the saranne, and preparing it for use 
by drying it in the sun, forms a portion of rustic labour 
somewhat similar to our harvesting; and it is entirely per- 
formed by the females of the country, except as they are 
aided in their industry by a little animal generally deemed 
very useless — the field-mouse. 
The little wild mouse of Kamschatska subsists during 
the winter season upon the saranne; and, warned by its 
instinct that the lily roots will become useless unless ex- 
posed to the sun to dry, it not only collects them at the 
proper season into a hoard, but lays them out in the air 
during sunny weather, to prevent their being decayed by 
the moisture which they contain. These small deposits 
of lily root are sought by the Kamschatdales, and appro- 
priated to their own future provision ; but lest they should 
deprive themselves of the assistance of these diligent pur- 
veyors, they are careful to leave a small number of the 
roots, on which the animal may subsist until the returning 
flowering season. 
The saranne is sometimes boiled and eaten in the same 
manner as our potato; but its principal use is in forming 
a kind of bread, on which, during a great part of the 
year, the natives of Kamschatka subsist. These poor 
people, living almost entirely upon fish, bread, and the 
berries which are so abundant in cold countries, are glad 
to have some change in their limited articles of diet. 
They are supplied with their two chief sources of sub- 
sistence alternately; for during the season in which fish 
is plentiful the lily root is not to be procured, while at 
the period at which the supply of fish ceases this latter 
provision commences. 
None of the flowers mentioned in this chapter on lilies, 
except the various species of garden lily (Lilium), belong 
to the order called by botanists Liliacese, as the plants 
of this order are found only in cold or moderately-tem- 
pered latitudes; but when English writers speak of lili- 
aceous plants, they mean such as have a blossom shaped 
like the lily, and long, slender leaves. The lily which 
is described as outrivalling the glory of the Eastern 
