THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 11 



away your first, gird up your loins, and stick to the ship, 

 she'll finally arrive in port with a valuable cargo. 

 Brown University, Providence, E. I. 



[It is very evident that the young lady who boasted 

 that in the school she attended botany was so well 

 taught that they could identify any plant from a piece of 

 the leaf, was not a pupil of Dr. Bailey's. It would be 

 amusing, if it were not so serious a matter to those en- 

 gaged in identifying plants, to encourage the general 

 public in the belief that a botanist can identify anything 

 in the plant line regardless of the kind of sample sent. To 

 send the tip of a plant for name is not soothing to the 

 botanist though it may be complimentary. It may be 

 added to what Dr. Bailey has said, that there is scarcely 

 a botanist that will not name specimens sent him when 

 prepared as suggested. But botanists are in general 

 much underpaid individuals and object to wasting their 

 substance in postage. Nor should the sender, as he fre- 

 quently does, ask to have his si)ecimens returned. No 

 botanist has time to wrap up parcels of unsolicited speci- 

 mens. When sending specimens for name, the sender 

 should select some of his best plants, so that the namer 

 may have some return for his trouble in case he should 

 wish to preserve the specimens. — Ed.] 



VEGETABLE TALLOW. 



For many years the Chinese tallow-tree {Sapium sehi- 

 ferum) has been known in India. Indeed, it maybe said to 

 have become almost naturalized in this country. Dr. 

 Roxburgh describes it as being "very common about Cal- 

 cutta" in his time. It was introduced intoChota Nagpur 

 so far back as 1844. In fact, the tree itself is to be met 

 with in several parts of India, but so far no one appears 

 to have utilized the seeds lor the purpose for which the}' 

 are so largely used in China. We have personally been 

 familiar with the tallow-tree for many years. The tree is 

 most readily propagated by cuttings and seed. It grows 



