206 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



8. DEFENCE AGAINST FLIES, USED BY THE BUTCHERS OF GENEVA. 



It is said that the butchers of Geneva have for a long time used the 

 oil of laurel as a substance which prevents the flies from approach- 

 ing their meat. The odour of this oil, though strong, is not very 

 disagreeable, and the flies will not approach the walls or parts which 

 have been rubbed with it. The person who describes these effects 

 says, that he has, in this way, guarded the gilt frames of mirrors 

 and pictures most perfectly from flies *. 



9. THE PALM OF CHILE. 



It is chiefly in the middle province that the palm of Chile (Micrococcos) 

 is found. It is not a common tree, being very partially distributed, 

 but several of the estates owe much of their value to the number of 

 palms upon them ; and, although the stem is useless, the leaves, 

 sap, and fruit, yield a large income to the proprietor. For thatching 

 houses, the leaves are considered better and more durable than any 

 other material ; the sap, boiled down to a syrup, is used as a sub- 

 stitute for honey, and has a very agreeable flavour ; and the small 

 cocoa-nuts, about an inch in diameter, of which every tree produces 

 a great number, are highly esteemed, and form a considerable 

 article of export to Peru. A curious method is employed to free 

 the nut from the green husk in which it is enveloped, a process 

 that was formerly attended with a great loss of time and labour. 

 A number of cows and oxen are driven into an enclosure, where a 

 quantity of the fruit is spread, and being very fond of its husk, they 

 immediately begin to feed on the fruit, only slightly masticating it 

 in the first instance, and swallowing the whole ; afterwards, while 

 chewing the cud, the nuts are rejected; and when the meal is 

 finished, a heap of them is found before each of the animals, per- 

 fectly free from the husk, the cattle being thus supplied with food 

 at a season when little grass remains on the hills, at the same time 

 that they effectually perform a very useful operation t. 



10. DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS IN PAVED PATHS AND COURTS. 



The growth of weeds between the stones of a pavement is often 

 very injurious as well as unsightly. The following method is 

 adopted at the Mint at Paris and elsewhere with good effect. One 

 hundred pounds of water, twenty pounds of quick lime, and two 

 pounds of flowers of sulphur, are to be boiled in an iron vessel ; the 

 liquor is to be allowed to settle, the clear part drawn off, and being 

 more or less diluted, according to circumstances, is to be used for 

 watering the alleys and pavements. The weeds will not appear for 

 several years J. 



11. PRESERVATION OF HAY. 

 Eye-witnesses assert that in Russia the inhabitants usually preserve 



* Recueil Industrielle, xv. 247. f Botanical Miscellany, ii., 202. 



% Recueil Industrielle, xv, 246, 



