333 
A visit to the root and herb ware-house belonging to Wallace 
Brothers, and under the charge of Mr. Hyams, furnished evidence 
that this branch of industry has reached an extent and importance 
of which few are aware. The printed catalogue of indigenous plants, 
dealt in by this house, enumerates about. 630 species, equal to the 
whole flora (less grasses and sedges) of a moderate district. These 
simples find a large market both in this country and Europe, and the 
orders come mainly from the wholesale druggists and the manu- 
facturers of patent medicines. Think of a single order for fifteen 
tons of Hepatica triloba ! The name /iver-wort will suggest the ob- 
ject, and demonstrate the efficacy ! : 
Joined by Mr. Hyams, the party proceeded by rail to the 
Swananoa Gap of the Blue Ridge, the present terminus of the 
Western Railroad of North Carolina. The road is built by the State, 
with convict labor, and is carried up this mountain pass by a series 
of curves and loops, on high embankments and through deep cuttings, 
finally piercing the ridge by a long tunnel, altogether forming a piece 
of engineering not surpassed by any similar work in this country. 
Soon the road will be completed through Asheville into Tennessee, 
and the lovers of the picturesque can find nowhere on the rail more 
striking scenery than they will here behold. A morning spent in 
rambling about this point revealed some of the features of the flora 
of the mountain district.* The Azalea calendulacea was here first 
seen, and its bright candles afterwards lighted up many a forest vista. 
Calycanthus levigatus was collected on the flanks of a wooded rocky 
eminence well named Rattlesnake Knob—two of these venomous 
reptiles falling victims to theclub of Hyams. ‘ What, locusts so early 
here!” cries one of the party, when the shrill music began. 
“Locusts in these parts means rattlesnakes,” was the rejoinder of a 
more experienced member. The sounds seemed to come from a 
little distance to one side of the broken rocks on which we were 
standing; it was rather exciting to find that the pair of reptiles 
which gave the kind warning were among the stones almost under 
our feet. 
Everywhere abounded Galax aphylla ; Tephrosia Virginiana was 
frequent; and, on the rocky summit of the Knob, Asplenium montanum 
and Asplentum Ruta-muraria were found, but none of the rarer ferns. 
Returning to the eastern foot of the Gap, through the gorge in which 
the stage road passes, admiration was divided between the wild 
' magnificence of the glen, and the rich and varied character of the 
trees which clothed its sides, and which were the special admiration 
of our arboriculturist. Conspicuous among the latter were Lirioden- 
dron tulipifera, Magnolia Fraseri and Magnolia Umbrella along with 
a few noble hemlocks and the silver-leaf linden. Among the shrubs 
were two or three species of Crategus, Symplocos tinctoria, Halesia 
tetraptera and Lex molits. Of the more humble plants | were Meni- 
spermum Canadense, Astilbe decandra and Galium latifolium. To the 
disappointment of all, the Rhododendron maximum this year withheld 
* The height of Swananoa Gap is 2,657 feet above tide. Rattlesnake Knob 
__ is probably nearly 3,500 feet high. 
