H. BOTANY AND HORTICULTURE. 357 



fuchsias, with white and red flowers, which, in consequence 

 of the ammonia vapor, become yellow, blue, and green. If, 

 when these changes have taken place, the flowers are im- 

 mersed in j^ure water, they preserve their new colors for sev- 

 eral hours, after which they gradually resume their original 

 tints. Another observation due to Mr. Gobba is that the 

 flowers of the asters, which are naturally inodorous, acquire 

 a very agreeable perfume under the influence of ammonia. 

 The flowers of the violet asters also become red when they 

 are moistened with a diluted solution of nitric acid. Again, 

 these same flowers, if exposed in an open box to the vapor 

 of hydrochloric acid, become after some hours of a beautiful 

 carmine red, which they preserve after being dried in the 

 dark, if kept in a dry, dark place. 1 B, Aiyril 4, 1876, 422. 



PEESERVATIOiSr OF CUT FLOW^ERS AND BOUQUETS. 



A German journal recommends for the preservation almost 

 indefinitely of cut flowers, singly or in bouquets, to dip them 

 in a solution of pure albumen, and, after allowing them to 

 become perfectly dry, to repeat the operation several times, 

 each time with fresh albumen. 10 C, 3Iay 1, 1876, 79. 



VARIETIES OF INDIA RUBBER. 



A recent writer enumerates the following varieties of India 

 rubber as known in commerce : 1, Ceara rubber ; 2, Para rub- 

 ber; 3, Quisembo balls from Sierra Leone; 4, African knots 

 in small irregular quadrangular pieces about an inch square ; 

 5, Mozambique rubber; 6, African niggers in small round 

 lumps about two inches in diameter ; 7, Madagascar rubber ; 

 8, Carthagena rubber; 9, Borneo rubber; 10, Rangoon rub- 

 ber; 11, African rubber; and, 12, Guayaquil rubber from 

 Ecuador. D. III. Getcerbezeitimg^XXlU., 1876. 



A NEW DRYING OIL. 



The ElcBOCOCca Vernicia^ or Tong-Yeou, a tree growing in 

 China and Cochin-China, produces abundantly a fruit consist- 

 ing of a capsule filled with grains rich in oil. This oil is 

 easily extracted by pressure, has a density of 0.9362, and 

 possesses a variety of curious properties. According to Cloez, 

 who has lately submitted it to thorough investigation, it dries 

 more rapidly than any other known oil, a coating of it ap- 



