AmAp°rnr;i?9h8arm*}    Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.        21 3 
This  plant  (Zamia  intregrifolia)  is  a  native  of  South  Florida,  and 
is  called  "  Indian  Bread  Root."  In  its  foliage  it  bears  a  resemblance 
to  the  palm  and  tree  fern.  In  affinity  it  is  nearer  the  latter  than  the 
former.  The  accompanying  figure  represents  the  plant.  Its  root  is 
the  edible  portion. 
When  the  poor  whites  on  the  east  coast  are  greatly  in  need  of 
money  they  go  to  the  woods  and  dig  koonti,  finding  a  ready  market 
for  the  roots.  Indeed,  it  is  the  sole  occupation  of  many  people. 
The  roots  are  not  cultivated,  as  they  grow  wild  in  abundance.  A 
very  fine  quality  of  starch  and  tapioca  is  manufactured  from  them, 
which  may  be  found  at  all  times  in  the  Key  West  market. 
The  starch  cells  of  koonti  are  muller-shaped,  like  those  of  cassava, 
but  smaller.  The  starch  is  said  to  be  equal  to  the  best  Bermuda 
arrow- root,  and  lately  its  worth  as  an  article  of  commerce  has  been 
fully  recognized  in  Florida.  There  are  a  number  of  factories  for  its 
preparation  in  Southern  Florida.  A  correspondent  of  the  United 
States  Agricultural  Department  writes :  "  I  ate  of  a  koonti  pudding 
at  Miami,  and  can  say  that,  as  it  was  prepared  and  served  with  milk 
and  guava  jelly,  it  was  delicious." 
The  unique  industry  (in  the  more  limited  sense  of  the  word)  of 
the  Seminole  is  the  making  of  the  koonti  flour.  The  Indian  pro- 
cess is  this  :  The  roots  are  gathered,  the  earth  is  washed  from  them, 
and  they  are  laid  in  heaps  near  the  "  koonti  log."  The  koonti  log, 
so-called,  is  the  trunk  of  a  large  pine  tree,  in  which  a  number  of 
holes,  about  9  inches  square  at  the  top,  their  sides  sloping  down- 
ward to  a  point,  have  been  cut  side  by  side.  Each  of  these  holes  is 
the  property  of  some  one  of  the  squaws  or  children  of  the  camp. 
For  each  of  the  holes,  which  serve  as  mortars,  a  pestle  made  of 
some  hard  wood  is  furnished. 
The  first  step  in  the  process  is  to  reduce  the  washed  koonti  to  a 
kind  of  pulp  by  chopping  it  into  small  pieces  and  filling  with  it  one 
of  the  mortars  and  pounding  it  with  a  pestle.  The  contents  of  the 
mortar  are  then  laid  upon  a  small  platform  ;  each  worker  has  one. 
When  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  root  has  been  pounded,  the  whole 
mass  is  thoroughly  saturated  with  water  in  a  vessel  made  of  bark. 
The  pulp  is  then  mashed  in  a  straining  cloth,  the  starch  of  the 
koonti  draining  into  a  deer  hide  suspended  below.  When  the 
starch  has  been  thoroughly  washed  from  the  mass  the  latter  is 
thrown  away,  and  the  starchy  sediment  in  the  water  left  to  mace- 
rate.   After  some  days  the  sediment  is  taken  from  the  water  and 
