116 
Manioc,  or  Tapioca  Plant. 
J  km .  Joint.  Pharm. 
1     Mar.  1,  1873. 
with  specimens  of  these  roots,  taken  from  the  living  plant.  These 
specimens,  coming  from  different  sources,  have  both  the  outward  ap- 
pearance and  anatomical  structure  of  the  major  striated  ipecacuanha. 
So  that  in  this  respect  the  question  is  completely  settled. 
As  to  the  origin  of  the  second  sort,  I  am  obliged  to  remain  in  doubt. 
Its  structure  appears  to  differ  too  much  from  that  of  the  roots  of  Psy- 
ehotria  to  allow  of  its  being  referred  to  a  species  of  the  same  genus. 
Jt  presents  anatomical  characters  approaching  to  those  of  the  white 
or  undulated  ipecacuanha,  which  is  referred  to  Richardsonia  scabray 
St.  Hil.  ;  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  it  were  to  a  plant  of  this 
genus,  or  at  least  of  a  very  near  genus,  that  this  commercial  sort 
owes  its  origin.  I  incline  the  more  to  this  opinion,  since  some  speci- 
mens appear,  as  it  were,  intermediate  between  the  minor  striated  ipe- 
cacuanha and  the  undulated  ipecacuanha.  I  have  in  my  possession 
some  fragments  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Hanbury,  labelled  "  Spurious  Ipe- 
cacuanha.— Richardsonia  scabra."  Now,  the  smallest  of  these  frag- 
ments recall  the  minor  striated  ipecacuanha,  whilst  the  larger  approach 
more  nearly  undulated  ipecacuanha.  But  I  will  not  dwell  further 
upon  a  point  which  at  present  can  only  be  matter  for  conjecture. — 
Pharm.  Journ.,  Lond.,  Jan.  4,  1873. 
THE  MANIOC,  OR  TAPIOCA  PLANT  * 
By  M.  Paul  Saqot. 
Tapioca  is  obtained  from  the  Manioc,  or  Cassava,  a  suffrutescent 
plant  belonging  to  the  Order  Euphorbiaceae,  which  has  long  been  cul- 
tivated by  the  indigenous  Indians  of  Guiana  and  intertropical  Amer- 
ica. It  is  the  Jatropha  Manihot  of  Linnoeus,  and  the  Manihot  utilis- 
sima  and  Manihot  Aipi  of  Pohl.  By  the  Indians  it  is  known  under 
various  names  ;  the  Caribs  call  it  Kilre  and  canhim  ;  the  Galibi,  Kie 
ray ;  the  Arrouagoue,  'caluli.  In  the  Antilles,  the  Spanish  colonies, 
New  Granada,  Peru,  and  Para  it  is  called  yuca  ;  in  Brazil  mandiocca 
and  maniba  and  aipi  (sweet  manioc) ;  in  Mexico  it  is  called  tziim.  A 
great  number  of  varieties  have  been  observed  under  cultivation,  each 
of  them  permanent,  although  sometimes  closely  resembling  another 
variety,  and  each  distinguished  by  some  particular  quality.  Botanists 
have  not  yet  met  with  any  form  of  the  cultivated  manioc  in  a  wild 
*  Abstracted  from  a  paper  read  before  the  Societe  Botanique  de  Prance,  Dec. 
18th,  1871  (Bull,  de  Soc.  Bot.  Fr.  xviii,  341). 
