BOTANY* 355 



articles of diet which should abound in the active principles of these Al<j<.e, and 

 should at the same time be palatable and digestible. For this purpose they 

 have selected some of these sea weeds best adapted to the object in view ; and 

 after drying and grinding them, have incorporated them with other common 

 esculent materials, such as flour and cocoa, and converted the mixtures into 

 bread, biscuit, chocolate, and tho likv?. 



The preparations exhibited are certainly very palatable, and, we are assured, 

 are entirely digestible. Then- constitution was stated to be such that eaci 

 biscuit weighing hah an ounce, contained about one thirtieth of a grain of 

 Iodine ; and that a similar amount was present in the quantity of chocolate 

 required for each cup of the liquid beverage. After some remarks upon the 

 composition of cocoa, and the peculiar advantages of a combination of it with 

 a natural Iodine-bearing substance to produce an agreeable substitute for the 

 cod-liver oil which is so offensive to most tastes and stomachs, Dr. Dalton 

 concluded by observing that, although these preparations had not as yet been 

 tried as to their medicinal efficacy, the principle involved in them was one 

 which deserved the serious attention of the profession ; and he hoped their 

 merits would be fairly and fully tested. 



JAPANESE COTTON AND HEMP. 



Samples of the cotton and hemp raised in Japan have recently been received 

 in this country. The cotton, examined under a glass, is not as fine as the 

 average of American, and the fibre is shorter and more easily broken. It has 

 a fine color, however, and the fibre has a greater number of barbs, so that it 

 will draw, with proper handling, into a very fine thread. It has apparently 

 a great many natural crooks in each fibre (this appearance may be given to it 

 in dressing), which renders it easier to spin and makes a bat of it very elastic. 

 From this cause and a natural harshness owing to the number of barbs in the 

 fibre, it feels to the touch very much like wood. The hemp is entirely desti- 

 tute of any flinty appearance, and possesses a long woody fibre about five feet 

 in length. The whole resembles the thin bark of a tree until separated into 

 fibres, and is quite stiff, with a resinous sap. 



