xliv PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



over 200,000 tons are imported annually into this country. Of this 

 quantity 50,000 tons are received from Spain, and the remainder 

 from Africa. That from Spain has the greatest proportion of fibre, 

 and is consequently the most valuable ; while the poorest quality 

 comes from Tripoli. The annual value of the 200,000 tons exceeds 

 £1,000,000. About one-third of the whole quantity is taken by 

 Scotland. Its use for paper-making is almost wholly confined to 

 Great Britain. 



The Bitter Afple or Colocynth Gourd, Cucumis Colocynthis, 

 L. — In the South of Spain this plant grows wild in great abund- 

 ance on waste dry land. It has a trailing habit, and spreads for 

 yards over the ground, producing a fruit about the size of an orange, 

 with a smooth yellow rind when ripe. It is very pretty and tempt- 

 ing to the eye, but has an extremely acrid taste. It is gathered 

 when it begins to turn yellow, peeled, and dried quickly in a store 

 or by exposure to the sun. The dried pulp is the Colocynth of 

 commerce, of which large quantities are exported from Southern 

 Spain. The seeds are quite bland, and even form an article of food 

 in the North of Africa. 



Barilla, Salsola sativa, L. — The plant grows in great abund- 

 ance along the sea-shore and also in salt marshes, where it forms 

 thick tufts from 12 to 18 inches in height. It is gathered in 

 autumn, dried in little heaps in the sun, and then set fire to in holes 

 in the ground, much in the same way as kelp is or used to be burned 

 on our own shores. The fires make a very dense smoke, and are 

 very commonly seen in the South of Spain in September and 

 October, when the people are making barilla for domestic use. 

 The ashes left by these fires consist of a hard greyish stony sub- 

 stance which forms the Barilla of commerce. It is an impure 

 carbonate of soda, and was formerly exported in large quantities 

 from various parts of Spain. This trade, however, has now 

 expired owing to the discovery of a process for extracting soda 

 from common salt. 



Mr. D. A. Boyd exhibited specimens of Dip) lot axis mural is, DC, 

 found growing on a railway embankment near "West Kilbride. 



