ept either to be boiled and
eaten, or dissolved and drank. The tapinambar grows in Chili, and is
used by the Indians.

The tapioca, or bay rash, a plant which grows about the out-islands of
the Bahamas group, was found of great use as a food plant to the
inhabitants of Long Island, during a scarcity of food occasioned by
the drought in 1843. This root grows in the form of a large beet, and
is from twelve to sixteen inches in length. It is entirely
farinaceous, and, when properly ground and prepared, makes good bread.
It fetches there four to six cents a pound.

The root of the kooyah plant (_Valeriana edulis_) is much used by some
of the North American Indians as food. The root is of a very bright
yellow color, with a peculiar taste and odor, and hence is called
"tobacco root." It is deprived of its strong poisonous qualities by
being baked in the ground for about two days. A variety of other roots
and tubers furnish them with food. Among these are kamas root
(_Camassia esculenta_), which is highly esteemed; the bulb has a sweet
pleasant flavor, somewhat of the taste of preserved quince. It is a
strikingly handsome bulbous plant, with large beautiful purple
flowers. Yampah root (_Anethum graveolens_) is a common article of
food with the Indians of the Rocky Mountains.

The roots of a thistle (_Cersium virginianium_, or _Carduus
virginianus_), which are about the ordinary size of carrots, are also
eaten by them. They are sweet and well flavored, but require a long
preparation to fit them for use.

The people of Southern India and Ceylon have for many hundred years
been in the habit of eating the bulb or root, which is the first shoot
from the Palmyra nut, which forms the germ of the future tree, and is
known locally as _Pannam kilingoes_. It is about the size of a common
carrot, though nearly white. It forms a great article of food among
the natives for several months in the year; but Europeans dislike it
from its being very bitter. Recent experiments have proved that a
farina superior to arrowroot can be obtained from it, prepared in the
same way; and 100 roots, costing 21/2d., yield one and a-half to two
pounds of the flour.

From the boiled inner bark of the Russian larch, mixed with rye flour,
and afterwards buried a few hours in the snow, the hardy Siberian
hunters prepare a sort of leaven, with which they supply the place of
common leaven when the latter is destroyed, as it frequently is by the
intense cold.