sagopalm

Bot. & Comm.: Any palm furnishing sago. Specif., Metroxylon læve, which is spinele , and M. (or Sagus ) rumphii, which is spinous, besides being smaller. The former grows in the East Indies, the latter in Moluccas, Sumatra, and Borneo. Granulated sago, prepared from its pith, is imported into Sago-palm. India, and used as a diet for invalids. ( Calcutta Exhib. Rep.) The illustration shows the tree and its fruit. sago-starch, s. Chem. The starch extracted from the stem of Sagus rumphii , and probably of other species of palm. The granules are in size as large as those of arrow-root, somewhat elongated in form, rounded at the larger end, compre ed or truncated at the smaller, and varying in length from 0008 to 0020 of an inch. The hilum, which is situated at one end of the granule, is in some a minute circle, in others a slit or cro . Sago is largely used in the manufacture of the so-called soluble cocoas, and is also fre- (Magnified 100 diameters.) quently added to the cheaper varieties of arrow-root. Sago-starch.