MRS. B.
It is; almost all fruit-trees yield some sort of gum, but that most commonly used in the arts is obtained from a species of acacia-tree in Arabia, and is called gum arabic; it forms the chief nourishment of the natives of those parts, who obtain it in great quantities from incisions which they make in the trees.
CAROLINE.
I did not know that gum was eatable.
MRS. B.
There is an account of a whole ship’s company being saved from starving by feeding on the cargo, which was gum senegal. I should not, however, imagine, that it would be either a pleasant or a particularly eligible diet to those who have not, from their birth, been accustomed to it. It is, however, frequently taken medicinally, and considered as very nourishing. Several kinds of vegetable acids may be obtained, by particular processes, from gum or mucilage, the principal of which is called the mucous acid.
Sugar is not found in its simple state in plants, but is always mixed with gum, sap, or other ingredients; this saccharine matter is to be met with in every vegetable, but abounds most in roots, fruits, and particularly in the sugar-cane.
EMILY.
If all vegetables contain sugar, why is it extracted exclusively from the sugar-cane?
MRS. B.