Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-09

terror OF his companions, by being compelled
to drink portion Of mandioca Juice in public,
where his dying sgonies might be witnessed
ought to have mentioned before that there is
one variety Of mandioca-not the most common
kind, however-which contains no poisonous
substance. II il the sweet cassava or yucca
called "apim" (manihot aIpim), whose roots
are eaten raw, boiled or roasted, and are but
little inferior to the South American potato
(Which, by the way, is not at all like the cult
waited potato which has been evolved from it in
other countries), similar in taste to the large
Italian chestnut. 1t has the further advantage
Of requiring only eight months to ripen, in
stead of eighteen or twenty, but it cannot be
converted into farina or tapioca and is worth
less as an article Of commerce. So. if tradition
be true. it must have been the sweet cassava
that sprang from Mani's grave.
Though often experimental upon, no means
hns ever been devised for preserving the crude
root more than twenty-four hours, and the
slightest moisture spoils the flour. Those who
depend upon il for their chief food supply
manage to keep it from harvest to harvest by
slicing the roots under water and drying them
hard as rocks before fire. When required for
use they are grated to fine powder, which. being
beaten with water, looks like cream of almonds.
Another way is to macerate the roots until they
become as putrid a. prime Dutch cheese. then
pounded in a mortar makes the very whitest
and most delicate farina-
IT SUPPLIES SEDUCTIVE DRINK
Mandioc also supplies a drink. which histo-
rians tell us in high favor among the saw
ages at the time of their discovery by the Por-
tuguese, and is still in universal use among the
Indians. If you ever have opportunity of
tasting it you will thank me for telling you how
1t is made. This is the recipe: Slice the roots.
boil them till soft and set aside to cool Then
let somebody chew them, mouthful BY mouth
full. returning the masticated cuds to the vessel
Then fill the jar full of water and boil several
hours, stirring constantly. Then pour the
liquid off into another jar, which must be
buried up to its middle in the dirt floor of the
family habitation, where, closely covered, it
will ferment in two or three days. When re-
quired for use a fire is built around it and the
beverage is served steaming hot. There is o
superstition that if men have ANYTHING to do
about it the drink will not only be worthless,
but collie provoking; therefore the chewing is
always done by women. De Lery says that the
aborigines were great drunkards on mandioca
1t was the custom for all the men of the tribe
to assemble at least once a month and 90 from
house to house singing and dancing up to the
foaming jars to receive a warm gourdful served
BY the women. and that they kept it up as long
as drop remained in the village. hardly recov-
ering from one debauch before it was time for
the next one.
Mandioc has medicinal virtue. too A poul-
tice of it moistened in its own juice is consid-
cred panacea for impOsthumes A drop or
two OF the poison Is administered for tape
worms. and applied to old wounds will eat
away the gangrened flesh. For certain poisons
and for snake bites it is said to be an unfailing
antidote, and the pure juice is used for cleaning
rusty steel and IRON FANNIE B. WARD.