Occasional Notes. 131 
sometimes eaten fresh, but more commonly sun-dried, and are usually 
consumed with rice and the lesser millets, or with seeds of various 
kinds, and leaves. It is said that a man, his wife, and three children 
may be supported for one month on two maunds of Mahwa flowers. * 
It is not, however, as a direct article of food, nor as a material for the 
preparation of a rough spirit by fermentation (a very common use of 
these flowers) that Mahwa blossoms are now recommended. It has 
been affirmed that they may be employed as an abundant and very 
cheap source of cane-sugar. In the Morning Post of October 15, 1885, 
appeared an article on this subject, in which it was stated that, 
" If the Mahwa flowers be available in sufficient quantities for the 
sugar-makers of Europe, there can be no question that the days of the 
beetroot are over, and sugar-cane will go the way of all discarded pro- 
ducts." This prediction depends, however, upon another condition be- 
sides that of the abundance of the flowers. If the sugar they contain be 
wholly or chiefly cane-sugar, that is " sucrose," then the argument is 
not without weight. But the nature of the saccharine matter of the 
Mahwa does not appear to have been ascertained. MM. Riche and 
Remont (Jonrn. de Pharm. et Chimie, 1880, p. 215) stated that the air- 
dried flowers contain 60 per cent, of fermentable sugar, of which about 
one-seventh is crystallisable. The material available for analysis in 
Europe consists, of course, of the dried flowers. These may have 
suffered some change beyond the mere loss of water, but the evidence 
they afford on chemical examination is not favourable to the view that 
they are likely to compete with sugar-beet or sugar-cane as a source of 
cane-sugar. Here is the result of an analysis of a sample of Mahwa 
flowers (from the Kew Museum) in their air-dried condition : — 
In 100 parts. 
Cane-sugar ... ... ... ... 3-2 
Invert-sugar 
Other matters soluble in water 
Cellulose ... 
Albuminoids 
Ash 
Water lost at ioo° C 
Undetermined 
52"6 
72 
2-4 
2.2 
4-8 
1-50 
1 -26 
* For an interesting account of the Mahwa tree and its products, see 
a paper by E. Lockwood in the Journal of the Linnean Society 
(" Botany") vol. xvii. p.p. 87-90. 
R 2 
