JATROPHA, the CASSADA-PLANT; a genus of the monodelphia order, belonging to the monoclea class of plants. There are seven species; the most remarkable of which is the manihot or manioc, the root of which is naturally poisonous, but may be deprived of that quality, and made into bread; and as such is used both in Africa and America, though it hath been disputed whether the plant is really a native of the latter country, or imported to it from Africa. The shrub rises seven or eight feet high, with a thin bark, that is grey, red, or violet, according to the different colours of the wood which it covers. The trunk and branches are filled with small prominences or knots, exhibiting the vestigia of the fallen leaves; for as the tree increases in height, the leaves relinquish the bottom of the branches, and are only to be found near the top. The wood is soft and brittle. The plant is better propagated by layers than from seed; at least,
little of the root proper for eating is to be obtained by the latter method. The principal root produces suckers, in number from four to seven, and of different length and thickness, according to the age of the tree and goodness of the soil. The bark of the roots is like that of the trunk, grey, when the wood is grey; red, when red; white, when white: but the inside or heart is always white, and of the consistence of turnip.
The roots of white manioc are ripe in eight months; those of the other kind require 14 or 18 months to attain their full size and maturity. When ripe, they are plucked out of the earth by tearing up the whole tree, which never fails to be accompanied by the root; and if in that operation any of the offsets should be separated from the main root, which is easily observed, they take them up with a hoe. It requires no great force to pluck up these shrubs; for, besides that the soil is of a soft nature, the roots do not penetrate very deep into it.
When plucked up, the negroes destined for this work grate or rasp the bark with a blunt knife, as is done to turnips, and then throw them into a tub full of water. They are then reduced to a powder or meal, resembling the coarse sawings of wood: this is effected by rubbing the root very forcibly against a copper file or grater, about 15 or 18 inches long, and 10 or 12 broad, that is fastened by small nails upon a plank of timber, three feet and a half long and one broad. The negro, who files, puts one end of the plank into a wooden trough or tub, and holds the other against his stomach; at his side is a basket, containing roots that are rasped, washed, and fit for being filed; one of these he takes in each hand, and passes it violently upon the file or grater, till it is reduced to a rough powder.
All the roots being grated in this manner, they take the powder and put it into a press, with a view to squeeze out the juice, which is regarded as a very strong poison, not only for men, but for beasts also, who drink of it, or chance to eat of these roots before the juice is expressed. It is remarkable, that animals which die in consequence of having swallowed any quantity of this substance, have their breasts prodigiously swelled, without any visible alteration on the noble parts. Some have hence argued, that the juice in question is not essentially a poison; but that, possessing a superfluity of nourishment, it proves an overmatch to the digestive faculties, and thus proves mortal.
Besides this super-abundance of nourishment, says father Labat, a part of its malignity consists in its coldness, which stops the circulation, benumbs the animal-spirits, and at length causes death: hence the best antidote against this poison is heat and violent motion. The patient, after swallowing large quantities of oil, to excite a nausea and vomiting, is made to run as quick as he can, and drink plentifully of the strongest spirits; in fine, every method is used to excite violent heat, to rouse the spirits, and put the blood in motion.
Animals which have accustomed themselves insensibly to the juice of manioc, feel no inconvenience from the root of it, but rather the contrary. It is in this manner that the Turks, by a gradual and constant use,
Jatropha. use, have rendered opium a harmless and even exhilarating medicine.
The juice of manioc loses its malignity when heated. The natives of the West-Indies, who use it in all their sauces, feel no sort of inconvenience from it, because they never use it till after being boiled. Of the same juice they make starch, by drying it in the sun, where it becomes as white as snow, and is frequently made into cakes, which are as delicate as if made with the finest wheat-flour.
When the manioc is sufficiently pressed, they either make it into bread, called cassada, or into flour for preserving. For the first-mentioned purpose, they have a plate of iron, two feet broad and half an inch thick; this they place upon a tripod, or on stones, and kindle a fire below it. When sufficiently heated, so as not to admit of the touch, they lay on the whole surface about the thickness of three fingers of manioc, which has been previously pressed and sifted. The heap falls down in proportion as it roasts, and the parts join and incorporate. This compression and incorporation is aided by the person who roasts, slightly passing a piece of wood over the plate. When the side of the cake next the plate is sufficiently done, that is, adheres, and the colour, formerly very white, becomes red, it is turned; and the other side allowed to roast till the same symptoms appear. When roasted, it is laid in the sun for two or three hours, with a view to dissipate any poisonous humidity, which may still lurk in the root under this new form.
The inside of cassada is as white as snow, the sides of a pale gold colour; the substance, which is very nourishing, and of easy digestion, may be preserved seven or eight months, or more, provided it is kept dry and sometimes exposed to the sun. When dipped in water, or put in soup, cassada swells up to a great height, which seems to prove its great abundance in substance.
The other mode of preparation, however, is most common, as being more convenient for preserving, distributing to the negroes, and transporting from place to place. The manioc, in this case, is put into a pan or stove that is but slightly heated, where it is continually turned, like coffee-beans, with a small wooden instrument contrived for that purpose. This motion prevents it from sticking to the pan; so that, when dried and roasted, it has the appearance of thick red grains of salt. This mode of preparation is much more expeditious than the former. When dried, it is put in granaries, where it may be preserved whole years, if kept dry, or put into a stove every six months.
This substance may be eat quite dry, as crumbled bread, or as the Turks eat roasted rice. When moistened, it swells prodigiously.
This latter method of preparing manioc is never practised by the natives, who use only cassada, which they prepare once every day, or oftener, as occasion requires; for they eat it quite hot, as being then more delicate and agreeable to the taste. Before their intercourse with the Europeans had procured them iron plates, they made their cassada upon large flat stones, whose thickness they adjusted to that purpose. In default of copper files or grates, they made use of a plank of wood, in which were fixed very small sharp bits of
pebbles.
One sort of manioc is said to be exempt from the poisonous quality possessed by the juice of the others. It is called camoniae, that is, chief of manioc: in fact, its wood, leaves, and roots, are larger and thicker than the others, and it is eaten without danger, or any precaution; but as it is longer of growing and ripening, and the roots yield much less meal, because lighter and more spongy, it is generally neglected.
The small bits of manioc which have escaped the grater, and the clods which have not passed the sieve, are not useless. They are dried in the stove after the flour is roasted, and then pounded in a mortar to a fine white powder, with which they make soup. It is likewise used for making a kind of thick coarse cassada, which is roasted till almost burnt; of this, fermented with molasses and West-India potatoes, they prepare a much esteemed drink or beverage called ouycou. This liquor, the favourite drink of the natives, is sometimes made extremely strong, especially on any great occasion, as a feast; with this they get intoxicated, and, remembering their old quarrels, massacre and murder each other. Such of the inhabitants and workmen as have not wine, drink ouycou. It is of a red colour, strong, nourishing, refreshing, and easily inebriates the inhabitants, who soon accustom themselves to it as easily as beer.—The leaves of manioc are used in both Indies, as those of spinnage are with us.