laboured under by means of mercury. This mineral was at 
that time not administered to the wealthy or great, but the 
use of it was confined to cases occurring among the com- 
monalty. Gradually, however, it came to supersede the 
Guaiacum, so that the latter has, in a great measure, fallen 
into disuse. It is still, however, considered as a diaphoretic 
and alterative.” 
Lignum Vite is the hardest and heaviest wood that is 
known, its specific gravity being 1.333. It will break like a 
mineral, and can never be split. The latter property is 
doubtless owing to the singular manner in which the woody 
tubes cross each other diagonally, forming a mass so compact 
as to have no cleavage. 
Guaiacum officinale is a genuine stove plant, requiring to 
be grown in a high temperature, with plenty of water to its 
roots, and showers over its leaves. It succeeds well if potted 
in a mixture of rich loam and peat, but, like most other 
stove and greenhouse plants, prefers being planted out. 
It does not strike freely at all seasons; the best time to 
take off cuttings is early in the spring, when the plant is 
beginning to grow. In selecting them, a little of the ripened 
wood of the present year should be left upon them, which 
prevents their damping off. They may then be plunged in . 
bottom heat under a bell-glass, and they will strike root in a 
few weeks. 
Of the dissections, fig. 1. represents the estivation of the 
calyx; 2. the stamens and pistil; 3. a transverse section of 
the ovary ; 4. a vertical section of the same, with the ovules 
in their natural position ; and 5. an ovule apart. 
