upon them. Yet did it,
in many instances, require royal edicts to induce some nations to
cultivate what is now regarded as one of the prime blessings of
Providence, from nearly one end of the earth to the other; the potatoe
being raised from Hammerfest, in Lapland, lat. 71 deg. north, through all
Europe, the plains of India, in China, Japan, the south-sea islands,
New Holland, even to New Zealand. What renders it so peculiarly
valuable is, that in the seasons when the corn crop fails, that of
potatoes is generally more abundant; thus furnishing a substitute for
the other, which proves defective from atmospheric conditions, which
have little influence over the potatoe, placed as it is underground,
and secure against extremes of temperature. The potatoe is not a root,
as commonly supposed, but an underground collection of buds, having a
quantity of starch accumulated around them, for their nourishment when
they begin to grow. The quantity of starch varies greatly with the
kind of potatoe cultivated, the mode of cultivation, the time of
setting, and above all, with the season of the year when the analysis
is made. Potatoes in general, afford from one-fifth to one-seventh
their weight of dry starch[K]; besides some other nutritive materials.
The quantity of starch seems to be at its maximum in the winter months;
as 100 pounds of potatoes yield in August about 10 lbs., in October
nearly 15 lbs., in November to March 17 lbs., in April 133/4 lbs., and
in May 10 lbs. Nor is the quantity of starch alone diminished in
spring, but the nitrogen which belongs to some of the other nutritive
principles, likewise suffers a deduction; as fresh, not dried
potatoes, contain 0.0037 per cent. of azote, while potatoes ten months
old contain only 0.0028, causing a sensible difference in their power
of imparting nourishment. The starch is withdrawn from the tubers of
the potatoe, precisely in the same way that it is transferred from the
root, stem, or seeds of other plants, for the service of the young
shoot; but the mode in which it is accomplished is but of recent
discovery, and constitutes one of the most beautiful instances of
design which the whole vegetable kingdom can unfold; "that man's
scepticism must be incurable who does not perceive, and acknowledge,
that the means now to be detailed were created for the express
accomplishment of the ends[L]."

Starch has been described above as consisting of a multitude of little
cells or vesicl