70 
nut is the whole pericarp in Carya as much as in Corylus, In the 
former genus it becomes free from the four-valved involucre at ma- 
turity; in Juglans the congenital union is more permanent, forming 
a drupaceous accessory fruit, of which the fleshy part is involucre, 
the bony part is pericarp. This view directly homologizes the Jug- 
landaceae with the Cupuliferae. 
Tamarinds. — There are few people to whom the flavor of pre- 
served tamarinds is not agreeable, but do those who 'frequently use 
tamarinds know how they are prepared ? They come into commerce 
both from the East and West Indies ; the latter, it would seem, are 
simply the fruits, or, rather, pods from which the shell or epicarp has 
been removed, and the pulp together with the strong fibrous frame- 
work upon which it is built, and the seeds are placed in alternate 
layers with powdered sugar in a cask or jar, over which boiling sirup 
is afterward poured. In the East Indies it seems they are prepared 
by first removing the epicarp and seeds by hand, after which the 
pulpy portion is usually mixed with about lo per cent, of salt, and 
trodden into a mass with the naked feet. Of these tamarinds several 
qualities are known in the market, the best being free from fibre and 
husk, and the worst containing both, together with the hard stone- 
like seeds, which are commonly eaten in the East Indies after being 
roasted and soaked to remove the outer skin, and then boiled or fried, 
when they are said to be tolerably palatable. West Indian tamarinds 
are alone officinal in the British Pharfjiacopceia; while on the Conti- 
nent those from the East are alone employed. Besides the tamarinds 
sent to Europe they are also shipped in large quantities from Bombay 
to Persia and other northern countries. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Attraction of Insects by Phallus and Coprinus, — E. Rathay and B. 
Haas have examined the structure of the fructification of Phallus 
impiidicus^ with a view to determine the peculiarities in its construc- 
tion which attracts flies and other insects to it. This is effected 
partly by the odor and partly by the taste. They find the fluid 
which results from the deliquescence of the gleba to contain an 
abundance of sugar; and they observed visiting this as many as 
fourteen species of insects, most of which also visit the nectar of 
flowers or feed upon honey-dew. The same phenomenon is exhibited 
by a number of other species of Phalloide^; and the explanation 
suggested is that the insects are useful to the fungi in disseminatmg 
the spores which are set free by the deliquescence of the gleba [Cf. 
Bulletin, Vol. vii., p. 30, where this same view is put forth by the 
Editor.] 
The pileus of species o^ Coprinus and of some other species of 
Agarlcini also exude sugar. , 
With regard to the exact chemical nature of the substance formed, 
the authors state that it consists in all these cases, in addition to 
dextrose, of another sugar which belongs to the same class and is 
probably trehalose. In Phallus impudicus there are no less than 
three substances which reduce alkaline solution of copper, viz., 
dextrose, torulose, and a substance intermediate between dextrose 
and gum. In Coprinus deliquescens the only one of these substances 
present is dextrose. 
