MASCULI. Cal. Gluma 2-valvis. Cor. 0-s. 2-valvis. Stam. 3.
And, according to Pursh: HoLcus. Ca/.2-valvis. Cor. minor: vale. altera aristata. Nectar. 2-partitum. Po lygannam Linnaeus, Willdenow, Muhlenberg, and others, have thrown the genus Holcus into Polygamia .111omecia ; but Michaux and Pursh have referred it to Triandria Digy. via, where it truly belongs, and also to Jussieu's " Graminex." The following is Willdenow's descrip tion of that species of Holcus, which is the subject of this paper : Holcus bicolor.
H. glumis glabris nigris, seminibus glo bosis albis aristatis. Man. 301.
H. glumis glabris ; Hort. Cliffort. 468. H. Sorghum) panicula coarctata ovali erects, locustis hermaphroditis obovatis, pene glabris, subaristatis. Mieg. Act. helv. torn 8. p. 129. t. 4. f. 4.
Milium arundinaceum, subrotundo se mine, sorgho nominatum. Bauhin. pin. 26. Morris. hist. 3. p. 196. s. 8. t. 5. f. 7. Habitat in Persia. D. Lerche. 0. H. 1/.. Zweyf'arbiges Pferdegras W.
Similimus lloko Sorgho, distinctissimus calycibus atria et seminibus niveis.
The method of making the beverage, which has a real or a fancied resemblance to chocolate, is this :—The seeds, which are farinaceous, together with the glumes, or, as they are commonly called, husks, which are persistent and black—are ground in a ,common coffee-mill, into grains somewhat smaller than ground cof fee. This coarse farina is then boiled over a slow fire, with the addition Oa ent quantity of milk, and a small piece of butter, until the beverage ossumes a cho colate colour, which it receives from the colouring matter of the husks. The liquor should be then strained through gauze, sweetened till palatable, and brought to table for use. I have drank it thus made, except that it was unstrained ; and though I could perceive no taste resembling cho colate, yet it was a beverage quite sa voury and pleasant.
To make four pinto of a pleasant, nutri tious, and, I presume, a wholesome bever age, to serve as an economical article of diet, in lieu of chocolate, tea, or coffee,— the expense may be calculated as follows, viz. cents. Ear 4oz. of the chocolate-meal (or flour made from the seed of the Ilolcus bicolor, at 5 cts. per lb.) 11
21 ditto of sugar, at 16 cts. per lb. 2i 1 ditto of butter, at 20 cts. per lb 11 1 pint of milk, at 3 3 pints of water 0 8 The proportions of the several articles here mentioned are to be boiled together, and in such quantities as may be required. When sufficiently boiled, and just before it is taken from the fire, the butter is to be well stirred up with the boiling li quor—it is then fit for use. The propor tions of the materials may be varied, so as to suit different palates ; but the above are agreeable to the directions given to Mr. William Barton, by the person who furnished him with the seed.—" In mak in the experiment with the Holcut in my family," says Mr..Barton; " the seed were ground in a common coffee-mill ; but as they could not be ground fine enough in this way, nor theirfarina be sufficiently disengaged from its integu ment or husk, too much of a coarse bran was deposited in the liquor, after boiling. The kind of grinding performed by the trituration of mill-stones would make a better meal ; and I should much prefer bolting it, after being ground in a proper corn-mill, to straining the liquor when boiled, in order to separate the coarsest of the bran from thefarina of the seed." The plant in question resembles com mon broom corn very much. It is eight or ten feet in height—is an annual, of rapid growth—and requires no particular care in its cultivation. The leaves are long, channelled, merved, and sheathing the stem. The fruit, and, of course, the in florescence, which I have not seen, is borne in a terminal, close and compact panicle, of an oblong-ovate form ; in this respect differing widely from sorghum saccharatum, or common broom, the pan nicle of which is diffuse and spreading. It differs also from the broom in the co lour of the husks, they being in the cho. colate broom (for so-I shall call the plant in question in want of a better name) of a deep shining black colour, and glabrous ; and in the common broom of a reddish brown hue, and pubescent, sometimes even hairy. The seeds are white, round ish, and hard, enclosed in shining black husks.