Natural History, 501 



centuries before, and the other nothing but pure oil.'' They were 

 examined by Professor CorrelU of Naples. The olives were in a 

 quadrangular glass vessel with a large mouth, the upper half was 

 filled with ashes and pebbles, the lower half contained the fruit 

 tningled with a buttery substance; they have the form and size 

 of those called Spunish Olives ; some still retain the stalk ; their 

 colour is black, but mixed with small greenish particles, which by a 

 microscope proved to be one of those lichens, produced on vegetable 

 matter during putrefaction, and which there wasevery reason to sup- 

 pose only occurred after the olives had been exposed to the air. The 

 olives are soft, pulpy, have a strong rancid smell, a greasy taste, 

 and leave an astringent, sharp sensation upon the tongue. They 

 swim on water ; the seed-vessel shows its organic texture, the 

 parenchyma does not ; the kernels are hard, but penetrable by a 

 knife. The oily part of the parenchyma, when analysed, was found 

 changed into oleic and margaric acid. 



The substance in which the olives were involved is of a brown 

 yellow colour, soft, like butter, has a strong, rancid smell, 

 stains paper like fat, melts at a moderate heat, (60° or 70° C. ?), 

 burns with a bright flame. It is composed of oleic acid in large 

 quantities, a small portion of margaric acid, a substance analogous 

 to tiie sweet principle of fixed oils, and a small quantity of ashes. 



The oily substance was found separately in a cylindrical glass 

 vase with a narrow neck, and a small handle. It was softer than 

 the preceding, had a yellowish green colour, a strong rancid 

 smell, and exhibited in the mass a number of brown globules, si- 

 milar to the spawn offish, the nature of which could not be dis- 

 tinguished by a powerful microscope. Chemically, this substance 

 resembled that found with the olives, and appears to have been 

 nothing else than olive oil. — Jameson's Journal, 1828, p. 248. 



13. Effect of Electricity on pointed Leaves, 8fC. and on Vegetation. 

 —For the double purpose of ascertaining the power of spines and 

 sharp-pointed lanceolated leaves in modifying the electric relation 

 of the atmosphere and the earth, and in affecting the progress of 

 vegetation by their electric influence, M. Astier insulated a sex- 

 tuple spine of the Gleditzia IriacantJios at the top of his house, and 

 brought a wire down from it to an insulated flower-pot, in which 

 were planted five grains of maize ; a similar sowing was made in 

 an uninsulated pot, for the purpose of comparison. The experi- 

 ment continued from the 6th to the 20th of June, including two 

 stormy days. The electrometer gave considerable signs of elec- 

 tricity in the flower-pot, and by using the condenser sparks were 

 produced. The electrified grains were found to pass more rapidly 

 through the first periods of vegetation. When Bengal rose-trees 

 were submitted to the same experiment, the flowers of the electri- 

 fied plant appeared more rapidly and more abundant than in the 

 other case. — Ann. Linn, de Paris, 



