Scientific Intelligence — Bqtany, 189 



lowed by such severe inflammation and swelling, that the features of 

 the Cholo were not recognisable. — Travels in PerUj by Von J. J. 

 Tschudi, p. 418. 



BOTANY. 



10. Quinuay or Chcnopodmm Quinoa, as a partial substitute for 

 the Potato. — Maize is the species of grain most extensively culti- 

 vated in the Sierra; it is of excellent quality, though smaller than 

 that grown on the coast. Wheat, though it thrives well, is cultivated 

 only in a very limited quantity, and the bread made from it is ex- 

 ceedingly bad. The other species of European grain, barley ex- 

 cepted, are unknown to the Serranos. To compensate for the want 

 of them, they have the quinua (Chenopodium Quinoa, L.), which is 

 at once a nutritious, wholesome, and pleasant article of food. The 

 leaves of this plant before it attains full maturity, are eaten like spi- 

 nach; but it is the seeds which are most generally used as food. 

 They are prepared in a variety of ways, but most frequently boiled 

 in milk or in broth, and sometimes cooked with cheese and Spanish 

 pepper. The dried stems of the quinua are used as fuel. Experi- 

 ments in the cultivation of this plant have been tried in some parts 

 of Germany, and with considerable success. It would appear, how- 

 ever, that its flavour is not much liked ; a circumstance rather sur- 

 prising to the traveller who has tasted it in Peru, where it is re- 

 garded in the light of a delicacy. It were to be wished that the 

 general cultivation of the quinua could be introduced throughout 

 Europe ; for during the prevalence of the potato disease this plant 

 would be found of the greatest utility. It is a well known fact that 

 potatoes and tea, two articles now in such universal use, were not 

 liked on their first introduction into Europe. The quinua plant, 

 which yields a wholesome article of food, would thrive perfectly in 

 our hemisphere, and, though in its hitherto limited trial it has not 

 found favour, there is no reason to conclude that it may not at a 

 future time become an object of general consumption. — Travels in 

 Peru, bx/ Dr J. J. Von Tschudi, p. 36?. 



11. Separation of Silica from Plants. — Dr C. T. Jackson de- 

 scribed a new method of separating silex from the stems of reeds, 

 rushes, straw, and grass, which he had contrived while aiding the 

 manufacturer of paper and hemp from reeds. He thought it might 

 prove a convenient mode of demonstrating the presence of silex in 

 plants to a class in the lecture room, and that it could be applied in 

 chemical analysis of such plants as have a covering of silex. The 

 process is as follows : — 



The reeds are crushed or split, moistened with water, and placed 

 in a leaden tube or cylindrical reservoir, and a smaller tube is con- 

 nected with one end of it and carried down into a glass of water. 

 Then a leaden bottle, being charged with pulverized fluor-spar and 



