264 
Sweet  Cassava. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1895. 
albuminous  matters  are  also  present  in  small  quantities,  being  only 
slightly  more  in  amount  than  the  ash  itself.  The  plant,  therefore, 
is  one  which  seems  particularly  suited  to  feed  almost  exclusively 
from  the  air  and  water,  and  hence  is  one  which  could  be  recom- 
mended on  the  sandy  soils  of  Florida  as  a  crop  which  would  require 
the  minimum  of  fertilization. 
The  ash  was  found  to  consist  of  silica,  ferric  oxide,  calcium  oxide, 
magnesium  oxide,  sodium  oxide,  potassium  oxide,  phosphoric  acid, 
sulphuric  acid,  carbonic  acid,  and  chlorine.  The  calcium,  potas- 
sium and  phosphoric  acid  made  up  three-fourths  of  the  ash  in  the 
peeled  root,  while  silica  and  potassium  predominated  in  the  bark 
from  the  root. 
Quite  a  number  of  preparations  are  made  from  the  starch  of  the 
root,  and  among  them  maybe  mentioned:  (1)  Tapioca;  the  first 
portions  of  starch  washed  out,  especially,  produce  an  excellent 
article  of  tapioca  when  treated  in  the  usual  way.  (2)  Glucose ;  both 
the  fresh  root  and  the  extracted  root  yield  full  theoretical  amounts 
of  glucose,  and  samples  of  this  article  were  made  by  the  conversion 
of  the  starch  both  by  sulphuric  acid  and  by  diastase.  The  samples 
of  glucose  made  from  the  starch  were  exceptionally  good,  especially 
when  diastase  was  used,  the  glucose  in  this  case  containing  large 
quantities  of  maltase.  (3)  Alcohol ;  the  glucose  on  fermentation 
affords  the  usual  quantity  of  alcohol.  (4)  Cane  sugar ;  a  beautiful 
preparation  of  cane  sugar  was  made  from  the  water  .used  in  washing 
out  the  starch.  The  amount  of  cane  sugar,  however,  is  not  large 
enough  to  warrant  its  extraction  on  a  commercial  scale  from  the 
waters  used  in  washing.  It  is,  however,  present  in  such  quantity  as 
to  indicate  that  in  making  glucose  it  is  better  to  use  the  whole  root, 
and  so  obtain  the  product  from  both  the  cane  sugar  and  the  starch, 
rather  than  to  make  it  from  the  starch  alone. 
The  general  result  of  the  investigation  is  to  establish  the  fact  that 
the  cassava  is  .a  plant  of  high  economic  value,  and  worthy  of  the 
attention  of  those  interested  in  the  carbohydrate  products  of  the 
country. 
Cassava  has  been  grown  for  one  year  on  the  department  experi- 
ment station  at  Runnymede  (post-office,  Narcoossee),  Osceola 
County,  Florida.  The  field  in  which  the  crop  was  grown  is  high 
pine  sand,  with  almost  no  other  ingredient. 
Attempts  were  also  made  to  grow  cassava  in  a  piece  of  very  wet 
