a simple brought from the East Indies, of considerable use in diet as a restorative. It is produced from a species of palm-tree (Cycas circinalis, L.) growing spontaneously in the East Indies without any culture. The progress of its vegetation in the early stages is very slow. At first it is a mere shrub, thick set with thorns, which makes it difficult to come near it; but as soon as its stem is once formed, it rises in a short time to the height of 30 feet, is about six feet in circumference, and imperceptibly loses its thorns. Its ligneous bark is about an inch in thickness, and covers a multitude of long fibres; which, being interwoven one with another, envelope a mass of a gummy kind of meal. As soon as this tree is ripe, a whitish dust, which transpires through the pores of the leaves, and adheres to their extremities, proclaims its maturity. The Malays then cut them down near the root, divide them into several sections, which they split into quarters; they then scoop out the mass of mealy substance, which is enveloped by and adheres to the fibres; they dilute it in pure water, and then pass it through a draining bag of fine cloth, in order to separate it from the fibres. When this paste has lost part of its moisture by evaporation, the Malays throw it into a kind of earthen vessels, of different shapes, where they allow it to dry and harden. This paste is wholesome nourishing food, and preserves for many years. The Indians eat it diluted with water, and sometimes baked or boiled. Through a principle of humanity, they reserve the finest part of this meal for the aged and infirm. A jelly is sometimes made of it, which is white and of a delicious flavour.