SUGAR. 19 
the process of manufacturing it is described by Pliny, 
the Roman naturalist, to have been very simple. The 
inner rind of the stem was merely cut into strips, and 
laid in parallel and transverse rows ; and these, on 
being heavily pressed with weights, adhered together. 
The substance thus formed, though of rude texture, 
was capable of being written upon ; and there are many 
manuscripts still extant on paper of this description. 
The ancients also sometimes employed the sword-shaped 
leaves of this plant for writing upon. With the former 
a kind of ink was used ; but on the latter the letters 
were formed by a metallic pointed instrument, called 
by the Romans a stylus. 
But the papyrus plant was not merely useful for 
writing upon. The inhabitants of the countries where 
it is found manufacture it, even to this day, into sail- 
cloth, mattresses, ropes, and sometimes even into wear- 
ing apparel. When the stems are compactly woven 
together, and plastered, externally, with a kind of resi- 
nous substance, so as to prevent the admission of water, 
they are made into boats. These, though they resemble 
great baskets in appearance, are of considerable use to 
the inhabitants. The " ark of bulrushes daubed with 
slime and pitch," in which the infant Moses was placed, 
is supposed, by the best commentators, to have been a 
boat made of this plant. 
The floral thyrsus which was used to adorn the temples 
and statues of the gods, was a representation of the 
tuft of the papyrus. 
DIGYNIA. 
27. SUGAR is the concrete or crystallized juice of the 
sugar cane (Saccharum cfficinarum, Fig. 5), a plant, much 
cultivated both in the East and West Indies, which has a 
jointed stem eight or nine feet high, long and flat leaves of 
greenish yellow colour, and flowers in bunches. 
The cultivation of the sugar-cane is pursued to great 
extent in the islands of the West Indies, where, about 
