o essential constituents of flour are thus separated from each
other; a viscid substance remains in the bag, which is called gluten,
and the white powder deposited is starch.

The principal quarters from whence the supply is derived, are the
Bermudas, St. Vincent, Barbados and Grenada, in the West Indies;
Ceylon, and some other parts of the East--and a few of our settlements
on the West coast of Africa. The annual imports for home consumption
average 500 tons.

The cultivation of arrowroot for the production of starch in St.
Vincent has increased enormously of late years. In 1835, the island
produced 41,397 lbs.; in 1845 it exported 828,842 lbs. The exports to
15th June, 1851, were, 2,934 barrels, 2,083 half barrels, 5,610 tins.
The culture is year by year extending, and as, unlike that of the
sugar cane, it may be carried on on a small scale with very little
outlay of capital, we may reasonably anticipate a still further
progressive extension for some years to come. Arrowroot, when once
established in virgin soil, produces several crops with very little
culture. In the first half of 1851, 25,027 lbs. were shipped from
Montego Bay, Jamaica. The quantity of arrowroot on which duty of 1s.
per cwt. was paid in the six years ending 1840, was as follows:--

Cwts.
1835 3,581
1836 3,280
1837 2,858
1838 2,538
1839 2,264
1840 2,124

The imports in the last few years have been in

Cwt.
1847 8,040
1848 10,580
1849 9,252
1850 15,980
1851

About 500 cwt. are re-exported.

East India arrowroot is procured in part from _Curcuma angustifolia_,
known locally as Tikoor in the East, and a similar kind of starch is
yielded by _C. Zerumbet_, _C. rubescens_, _C. leucorhiza_, and
_Alpinia Galanga_, the Galangale root of commerce. _C. angustifolia_
grows abundantly on the Malabar coast, and is cultivated about the
districts of Patna, Sagur and the south-west frontier, Mysore,
Vizigapatam, and Canjam, Cochin and Tellicherry. It was discovered but
a few years ago growing wild in the forests extending from the banks
of the Sona to Nugpore.

The particles of East India arrowroot are very unequal in size, but on
the average are larger than those of West India arrowroot.

Dr. Taylor, in his Topography of Dacca, speaks of fecula or starch
being obtained from the Egyptian lotus (_Nymphaea lotus_), which i