. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . The Plantain—{Musa paradisiaca). The Banana—Musa sapientum. The Banana is a shorter and rounder fruit thanthe plantain: the stem is also different,—that of theplantain being: wholly screen, while the banana isspotted with purple. The banana is not so lusciousas the plantain, but it is more agreeable. Having: thus observed the slig:ht differences in theseplants, we shall proceed to their general character ;—in which notice we shall confine ourselves to the useof the word banana. The banana, as we ha
. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . The Plantain—{Musa paradisiaca). The Banana—Musa sapientum. The Banana is a shorter and rounder fruit thanthe plantain: the stem is also different,—that of theplantain being: wholly screen, while the banana isspotted with purple. The banana is not so lusciousas the plantain, but it is more agreeable. Having: thus observed the slig:ht differences in theseplants, we shall proceed to their general character ;—in which notice we shall confine ourselves to the useof the word banana. The banana, as we have indicated by the headingof this chapter, is not the property of any particularcountry of the torrid zone, but offers its produceindifferently to the inhabitants of equinoctial Asia andAmerica, of tropical Africa, and of the islands of the THE BANANA. 365. Tlie Banana—(^Musa sapientvni). Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Wherever the meaitheat of the year exceeds 75° of Fahrenheit, the bananais one of the most important and interesting objectsfor the cultivation of man. All hot countries appearequally to favour the growth of its fruit; and it haseven been cultivated in Cuba, in situations where thethermometer descends to 45° of Fahrenheit. Itsproduce, as already mentioned, is enormous. Thebanana, therefore, for an immense portion of man-kind, is what wheat, barley, and rje are for the inha-bitants of Western Asia and Europe, and what thenumerous varieties of rice are for those of the coun-tries beyond the Indus*. The banana is not known in an vmcultivated wildest tribes of South America, who depend * Humboldts Polilical Essay on New Spain—Blacks Translation, vol. ii. 366 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. upon this fruit for their subsistence, propagate theplant by suckers. Yet an all-bountiful Nature is, inthis case, ready to diminish th
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