260 BANANA. -MILLET. 
meat ; they are also cut into slices and fried, pounded, 
and made into puddings, and used in various other 
ways. Horses, cattle, swine, and other domestic ani- 
mals, are fattened with them. When ripe they may be 
eaten raw, and, in this state, they have somewhat the 
taste of a ripe pear. 
The leaves of the plantain-tree, being soft and smooth, 
are sometimes employed as dressings after blisters ; 
and, when green, are used as food for hogs. 
The vegetation of this tree is so rapid that if a line 
or thread be drawn across, and on a level with the top 
of one of the leaves, when it begins to expand, it will 
be seen, in the course of an hour, to have grown nearly 
an inch. 
271. The BANANA is a valuable plant (Musa sapientum) 
which grows in the West Indies and other tropical countries, and 
has leaves about six fed in length, and afoot broad in the middle ; 
and fruit four or five inches long, and about the shape of a cu- 
cumber. 
When ripe ? the banana is an agreeable fruit, with a 
soft and luscious pulp; and is frequently introduced in. 
desserts in the West Indies. The Spaniards have a 
superstitious dislike to cut this fruit across ; they 
always slice it from end to end, because, in the former 
case, the section presents an imaginary resemblance to 
the instruments of our Saviour's crucifixion. The 
banana is sometimes fried in slices as fritters. If the 
pulp of this fruit be squeezed through a fine sieve, it 
may be formed into small loaves, which, after having 
been properly dried, may be kept for a great length of 
time. 
272. MILLET is a small yellowish seed of a grassy plant 
(Hoicus sorghum), with large and compact stalks which rise to the 
height of seven or eight feet, and is much cultivated in several parts 
of India and Africa. 
In some countries millet seed is ground into flour and 
converted into bread ; but this is brown and heavy. 
It is, however, useful in other respects as food, and is 
