powder is brushed off and
collected for sale, no other preparation being necessary to
preserve it. It is also used medicinally as an anthelmintic and
has been successfully used in cases of tapeworm. A solution
removes freckles and pustules and eruptions on the skin.

371. RUELLIA INDIGOTICA.--This small bush is extensively cultivated in
China for the preparation of a blue coloring-matter of the nature
of indigo. The pigment is prepared from the entire plant by a
process similar to that employed in procuring the common indigo.
It is sold in China in a pasty state. The water in which the plant
is steeped is mixed with lime and rapidly agitated, when the
coloring deposits at the bottom of the vessel.

372. SABAL ADANSONII.--This dwarf palm is a native of the Southern
States. The leaves are made into fans, and the soft interior of
the stem is edible.

373. SABAL UMBRACULIFERA.--This is a West Indian palm; the leaves are
used for various purposes, such as making mats, huts, etc.

374. SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM.--The sugar cane. Where the sugar cane was
first cultivated is unknown, but it is supposed to have been in
the East Indies, for the Venetians imported it from thence by the
Red Sea prior to the year 1148. It is supposed to have been
introduced into the islands of Sicily, Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus
by the Saracens, as abundance of sugar was made in these islands
previous to the discovery of the West Indies in 1492 by the
Spaniards, and the East Indies and Brazil by the Portuguese in
1497 and 1560. It was cultivated afterwards in Spain, in Valentia,
Granada, and Murcia by the Moors. In the fifteenth century it was
introduced into the Canary Islands by the Spaniards and to Madeira
by the Portuguese, and thence to the West India Islands and to
Brazil. The Dutch began to make sugar in the island of St. Thomas
in the year 1610 and in Jamaica in 1644. Its culture has since
become general in warm climates and its use universal.

375. SAGUERUS SACCHARIFER.--The arenga palm, which is of great value to
the Malays. The black horsehair like fiber surrounding its
leaf-stalks is made into cordage; a large amount of toddy or palm
wine is obtained by cutting off the flower spikes, which, when
inspissated, affords sugar, and when fermented a capital