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ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

Sague'rus Rum’phii, Roxb.— Rumphius's Wine Sago-Palm.

Palma Indica vinaria secunda, Saguerus, sive Gomutus Gommuto, Rumph.

Sex. Syst. Monoecia, Polyandria.

(Sago ; Ffficula caudicis, Offic.)

Botany. Gen. Chau. — Male: Calyx three-leaved. Corolla three-petalled. Female: Calyx five-leaved. Corolla three-petalled. Ovariumsuperior, three-celled; cells one-seeded, attached to the base of the axis-Style none. Stigma three-dentate. Berry three-celled, with a singleseed in each cell. Embryo in the back of the albumen. {Roxburgh.)

Sp. Chau. —The only species.

Hail —Islands eastward to the Bay of Bengal.

Manufacture of Sago . —A farinaceous substance, called sago, is saidto be obtained from two species of Cycas {vide Cycadace.e). But thesago of English commerce is obtained from one or more palms. All thethree just mentioned (viz. Sagus Rumphii and leevis, and Saguer^ 3Rumphii) yield it. Dr. Roxburgh [FI. Indica, iii. 623) says, the graini'lated sago met with in Europe is got from Sagus lsevis. Marsden {Hist-of Sumatra ), on the other hand, says the Sagus Rumphii yields the sago othe shops. The manufacture of sago varies somewhat in different localitm®-In the Moluccas it is procured as follows:—When the tree is sufficientlymature, it is cut down near the root, and the trunk subdivided into p° r 'tions of six or seven feet long, each of which is split into two parts-From these the medullary matter is extracted, and, with an instrumeoof bamboo or hard wood, is reduced to powder, like sawdust. This i®mixed with water, which is then strained by a sieve. The filtered liffi 10deposits the farina, which, after two or more edulcorations, is fit for a*®'

This is raw sago meal. For exportation, the finest meal is mixed w'i ^water, and the paste rubbed into small grains of the size and formcoriander seeds. Within the last few years, the Chinese of Malacca ha'invented a process by which they- refine sago so as to give it a fine p ear -lustre. The quantity of sago afforded by the sago-palm is prodig 1011 ^Five and six hundred pounds is not an unusual produce for one tre(Crawford, Hist, of the Indian Archipelago, vol. i. 383 et seq- aDvol. iii. 348). g

Description of Sago. —Sago occurs in commerce in two sta e ’pulverulent and granulated.

1. Pulverulent Sago; Sago meal [Farina Sagu). —This is rarely 1 ^ported. It is a fine powder, resembling in several respects arrow-#*Its colour is whitish, with a buffy or reddish tint. Its odour is suebut somewhat unpleasant and musty. Examined by the microscopeparticles are found to be unbroken: they are somewhat larger than t ^of arrow-root, and perhaps rounder; the hilum of each is a merestraight or curved.

2. Granulated Sago [Grana Sagu). —Of this there are tw r o kinds,and common sago. a. Pearl sago {Sagu perlatum) occurs in smallgrains, not exceeding in size that of a pin’s head, inodorous, and h a ^ ? j,little taste. They are whitish, but with a greater or less tmtofbro#

or reddish yellow, and are sometimes translucent. They svvelcold water. Examined by the microscope, most of thefound to be ruptured: the hilum of each is large, oval, yellowish