Note 115 — Chapter V

The full phrase is Farinha de paõ (wood-meal), being exceedingly like saw-dust. The History (Introd. p. 4) sensibly remarks, “It is the cheapest and least nutritious of all the substitutes for bread in the tropical climates; although it has lately been introduced into this country (England), and is now sold by the grocers and apothecaries at a high price, as a pretended remedy for consumption, under the name of tapioca.” The same words, nearly a century afterwards, will apply to the Revalenta Arabica, the flour of “Adas,” or lentils, which no Egyptian Fellah will eat if he can help it. And yet “this nutritious and delicious food,” &c.