Lathyrism India Buchanan 1809-1810, 1928

7/29/2019 Lathyrism India Buchanan 1809-1810, 1928

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352 M A I Z E , E T C . l ^ M I L L E T . 353ground into meal, which is mixed with cold water andsalt. This is called Chhat u. The natives have notthe art of boiling it so as to form porr idge. In someplaces barley straw7 also is given to cattle.M aruya or the Cynosurns Coroca?iva ofWilldenow, which from a minute difference in the fruitGasrtner has chosen to call by a new name Elevsineis much used, especially on the west side of the Kosi!The M aruya is ground in a h and- mil l, sometimeshaving previonslv been parched , sometimes not. Themeal is formed with boiling water into cakes, that aretoasted. The straw is often given to cattle . In poorsoils this is cultiv ated, as in Din a j pur, with theCylisus Cnjan and rice, which form a valuable crop.A good deal of maize, In dia n corn {Zea Mays)}called here M akkai, is used. The people like it, butthey imagine tha t it occasions fluxes. The experi-ments which the natives have tried on its cultivationshow that , in their hand s at least, the sanguineexpectations which might be formed from the experi-ments tried at Rong gopur would not be realized. Thegrain is sometimes parched, and eaten with salt; or itis dried, ground into meal, mixed with cold water, and .;formed into cakes th at are toas ted. The leaves andfresh stems are sometimes given to cattle; but the^Jquantity is so inconsiderable that the natives are not j |sensible of any ad van tag e; a nd near Kaliyachak, 90 fslow is the progress of knowledge that the people whoigive all manner of other straw to their cattle burn;this, as being totally unfit for f odder. The cattle]however are voraciously eager to procure it, which is]perhaps the reason why it is neglected by the natives,!who would have a great difficulty in preserving thjcrop. ' _ 'H

Janera, or the Holcus Sorgvm of botanists, in this!distr ict is a less considerable crop tha n maize. Thjnatives think it more wholesome, but not so palatablyIt is used in the same manner; but when parched, f 1exposed two nigh ts to th e dew, the gr ain swells out liK|the preparation of rice called here Lava. Cattle "the stems and leaves, but not eagerly. I n some plaoo||there is only one kind, and what I saw was everywhertjthat which has a white seed ; but in Dharndaha

^people reckon three kinds : Gehungya, Narkatia andijlaksa, w hich I did not see.\ The kinds of millet called Kaun (Panicum\italienm) and China {Panicum miliaceun E . M . ) i n[gome parts of this district are much cultivated, and in|*times of scarcity the c ultiva tion has wi th grea tA dvantage been much extended, especially th at of thehatter, which ripens quickly and with very little rain.tThe China is of two kinds, called Bhadai and V aisakh iFccording as it ripens in spring or in the middle offthe rainy season. A very lit tle B ajra , the Holcushvicatus of botanists, is reared in this distr ict. I t|J8 but a poor grain, and does not deserve encourage-me nt. The quantity is too trifling to have obtained aplace in the Tables of produce. | There are two other kinds of millet, which arej^ared in a more considerable quan tity. The one is{called Sam a or K her i, and does' not seem as yet to[have been introduced into the systems of modern^botanists; but Dr. Roxburgh in his manuscript collec-ftions, I believe, calls it Panicum frumentaccum. I tI has a very strong resemblance to the Holcus Sorghum.The other is called Kodo, and is probably a species ofjgaspalum, which I know grows in Tir ahu t. Both areiyery poor grains; and in a country producing so manyetter kinds seem to deserve little attention.

"LEGUM INOUS PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THE IR GRAIN.On the whole the most common pulse here is theh Kalai, which has seeds of a green colour withhite eye. I have not seen this pla nt in a stat e fitascertaining its botanical appellation, as it is con-d to parts of the district which I did not visit inproper season. The name M ax given to a kindredt by European botanists, according to thetuguese orthography, is the same with the M ash of^ i n d i dialect , or the M as of Calcutta; but so far ask judge, the M ax of botanists is the Th aku ri ofdistrict and of Dinajpur, which in Ronggopur isted called M as, but produces a pulse of veryerent qualities, which is readily distinguished byalour. On the banks of the Ganges the M ash is

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854 P U L S E .reared in vast qua ntitie s, and is often sown on the '$mud as the river dries up, without any ploughing, and '*ripe ns witho ut any sort of trouble. There it' fr .quently forms the common diet of the natives, itground into meal and formed into cakes, which aiV'toaste d. In other par ts, however, it is only used like ^other pulse, that is to say, it is freed from the husk and 1spli t, form ing what is called Da l. This is used in twma nner s. Fir st, mixed with rice, boiled and seasonedw rith oil or butter , and salt and spices, it formtKh ich ri. very much used in cold weath er. Secondly,fried with oil or butter, and capsicum, salt andturmeric, it forms what we call a curry, but by tbenative s here this also is called simply Dal. In thiidist rict a prep arati on called Bari is made from M ash;The entire pulse is steeped a night in cold water, then|the inte gum ents are rubbed off w ith the hand. Th


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35 8 P U L S E .A good deal of the poor pulse called Ku rthi orKulthi, mentioned in Ronggopur, is reared in thUdistrict, and is the food that is used by the natives tofatte n cattl e. I t is imagined to be very heatingM en however eat it in curr ies. Before it is groundin order to separate the integuments it must he driedover the fire. The common field pea (M atar) is also agood deal cultivated, and is only used split. There

are two varieties, M aghi and Vaisak hi, one of whichripens in winter, and one in spring.Th e Phaseolus Mungo in this district is a gooddeal cultivated, and is called H ari and Vaisakhi Mug.It is used both split and for making the kind of bailacaller! Ba ri. It may be split and freed from the husks .either by drying it over the fire, or by oiling it and *exposing it to the sun before it is put into the mill.I heard of a species called Seha M ug or M ahananda, Iwhich probably has some near affinity to the foregoing; but I did not see it. I t is often sown on the banlcsof rivers, without any previous culture; but is raisedto only a trifling extent.The M eth Kalai of this district is the Phaseoltu jminimus of R um phiu s, which in Ro nggopur is called :1Kh eri. and only a small quant ity is reared, it is used |split, and is considered as very heat ing . The integu-*ments are separated by parching, before it is put intojthe mill." ' pBora is a leguminous plant which I have not seen^but in most parts of the district a little is reared||Like Khesari it may be split without either previou^oiling or parch ing . I t is used also in the kind of balllhcalled Ba ri. The Ba rba ti is a pulse very nearrelated to the above, but its seed is vastly smaller,am told tha t it is the same with the ' Labiyah OilRonggopur, which is the Dolichos Sinensis. '.Th e Cadelium of E um phi us is here called BbeM ash. I t is of very litt le consequence. The sainis the case with another pulse called Tulbuli, which ^have not seen grow ing. To jud ge from the appearanOgjof the grain, I should take it to be exactly the safli|jwith the M ash K alai

OIL SEEDS. 357 3. PLANTS REARED FOR THE OIL IN THEIR SEEDS.In the greater part of the district these may be,nsidered as the staple article of cultivation; forthough on the whole greatly inferior in value to theiins which serve as food, yet they are the great objectcommerce, and that by which the greater part of therent is paid . The most common are the two speciesM entioned in my account of Di najp ur under the names%i Sarisha and Turi, which there I have considered as*" cies of Sin-apis, and often called mustard; butrhaps they approach nearer to the Rape-seed of,rope and I shall now call them by that n ame.he two species differ in points which are so minuteiat they do not deserve much attentio n. In Din ajpurjdeed it was supposed that the one was more pro-uctive of oil than the other, and that there was aifference in the quality of the two oils; but neither theieople of this district nor those of Ronggopur seem to"\ aware of these circumstances; and I am uncertain'hether this is to be attributed to their want of obser-vation, or to the opinion of the people in Dinajpurftving its origin in imagina tion. I have not beenhie to ascertain this circumstance, because the nativeomenclature for these plants, in this district, is soinfused that without seeing the plant growing I can-'t trust to purchasing the seed; for the same names& applied to both very irregula rly. These namesej Sarisha , M aghi Sarisha , T uri , and Kajali , andjP^ifferent vicinities these names are applied inoposite senses.'} The species of Radish (Raphanus), the seed ofijph is used for producing oil, in this district isred in great quantities, and is a very luxuriantp*. but the natives prefer the oil of the rape-seed.18 plant is here also called T or a; but is more com-y known by the nam e of Pu r ab i S aris ha or old6-seed, having perhaps been the kind that formerly" alone cultivat ed. I t is also called Se-uti Sarish ahite rape-seed, the g rain being much lighter'Ured than that of the other kind.Rayi or the Sinapis Amboinicum of Rumphiusrtiat should properly be translate d m ustard , as it^qualities similar to the Eu ropean plan t of that


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Lathyrism India Buchanan 1809-1810, 1928

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