I. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY. 379 



I. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY. 



NOXIOUS EXHALATIONS FEOH THE MEADOW-SAFFEON. 



Isidore Pierre communicates to the Paris Academy an in- 

 teresting fact in resrard to certain exhalations from the flower 

 of the Colchicum autumnale, or meadow-saffron. In passing 

 through a garden where these plants were in full bloom he 

 accidentally held his hand near the flower, and found, after a 

 few seconds, that his fingers had changed color, and assumed 

 a yellowish-green tint, similar to that of the decomposing 

 human subject. In a short time, however, the skin resumed 

 its natural color. The precise character of this emanation 

 Pierre was unable to determine. It could not be any solid 

 substance, as it would have been much more persistent. He 

 thinks, therefore, it is some extremely volatile liquid, which 

 he proposes to investigate hereafter. He is convinced, also, 

 that exposure to it produced certain uncomfortable sensa- 

 tions both in his hand and his mouth, calling to mind the 

 toxical effects of the meadow-saffron, which under certain 

 circumstances, especially when fresh, is highly poisonous. 

 6 P, September 14, 1874, 635. 



YAEIOUS INSECT-POWDEES. 



The very great extent to which the various insect-powders 

 now before the world are used for the destruction of noxious 

 insects is well understood at the present time, the apparent 

 quackery of the recommendations of the insect-powders be- 

 ing now well substantiated by abundant experience. Al- 

 though insect-powders have been in use from time immemo- 

 rial in China, Tartary, Thibet, etc., especially in enabling the 

 herdsmen of the steppes to exist in company with the count- 

 less myriads of gnats and mosquitoes (for which purpose the 

 substance is burned inside of the tent), it was not until 1846 

 that Zachrel, a Tiflis merchant, first introduced it for sale 

 in Vienna, under the name of "Persian Insect -Powder." 

 This was originally derived from two plants, the Pyrethrum 

 carneum and P. roseum, both growing w T ild in the Caucasus, 

 and largely cultivated there. Since that time the manufact- 



