172 
Miscellany. 
fresh plant, previously coagulated and filtered, and then evaporated in a 
water bath ; the watery extract thus made, is dissolved in alcohol and 
again evaporated to a pillular consistency by a gentle heat. 
By administering this remedy in doses of a quarter to half a grain twice 
a day, and gradually augmenting the dose to six or nine grains a day, M. 
Lumbard has found that the pain and swelling rapidly disappear. No 
unpleasant symptoms were produced, except when a very large quantity 
was taken, (one drachm and a half in twenty four hours) in this case a 
great cerebral excitement was induced. 
Ibid. 
Tapioca. — Dr. Perrine has given the following particulars respecting 
this article. According, says he, to honest Bernal Diaz, the name of the 
peninsula of Yucatan, is indicative of the prevalence of the Jatropha ma- 
nihot, and is derived from two native words, signifying Cassave land. 
The Maya Indians, who constitute four-fifths of the population, still call 
the root Yuca, the place of its growth Tal ; and etymology has been 
unusually careful in merely changing Yucatal into Yucatan. When pre- 
pared for bread, this pulp is denominated cassava ; when the paste is 
passed through holes to granulate it for exportation, it has taken the 
name of tapioca. There are two species cultivated, the acrid and the 
sweet, but the difference is no more visible to the botanist, than that of 
the sweet and sour orange trees. The natives, however, easily recognize 
the Yuca agria along side of the Yuca dulce, and in case of doubt do 
not hesitate to decide by tasting. The Yuca dulce is brought to the ta- 
ble like yams, and is eaten, boiled or roasted, like the common potatoe. 
The Yuca agria, besides supplying cassava cakes for the food of the 
healthy at home, and tapioca grains for the nourishment of the sick 
abroad, is also converted into pure starch, both for domestic consumption 
and foreign exportation. However thickly the ground be covered with 
stones, if there be in every two or three feet square, two inches of earth 
1o insert the cuttings of the Yuca stem, the labour is done and the crop 
secure. Each cutting should have at least three buds, and is inserted 
obliquely, leaving one germ in the air to shoot up into a stem, and the 
other two below the surface, to spread in the shape of creeping roots. 
In Yucatan the lowest computation of pure starch produced is at the rate 
of 2500 pounds to the acre, and 4000 pounds is not admitted to be a very 
extraordinary crop. The cheapness of its production may be inferred 
from the fact, that pure Yuca starch is actually selling at Campeachy 
at three dollars and a half the hundred pounds, although its transporta- 
tion on mules from the distant interior, amounts to half that sum. 
Amer. Jour, of Med. Sciences. 
Artificial Ultramarine, — M. Kobiquet gives the following process to 
prepare a blue colour, resembling that of the artificial ultramarine of 
