16 



No. l.— Voteft, Vol. 13, Page 145, 

 58tli Geo. 3rd. 19th November, 1817. 



A petition of Nicholas C. Van Echout was presented to the House, 

 and read, setting forth : 



That the Marengo plant grows equally well on the poorest or richest 

 soil, on rocks where scarcely any mould is perceptible, and even on 

 walls, and is so little affected by the sun or drought that it produces 

 seed the whole year. 



That the plant might be cultivated in dry situations, or barren soil, 

 such as the pens in Liguanea. 



That seeds of six ti ees of three years old, raised in very barren soil, 

 yielded 3 lbs of seed each, when cleaned of the husk, and yielded 

 2 ozs. of oil, or 36 ozs. from six trees ; this oil too has been used in 

 salads, and for culinary purposes, and found equal to the best Florence 

 oil in lamps, and as clear light as spermaceti, without smoke ; — it 

 does not get rancid by age, or acquire any disagreeable scent, and has 

 made soap resembling Windsor Soap. 



The seed should be planted at six inches distance, and may be trans- 

 planted in a year. The trees should be planted in rows of two feet and a 

 space between sufficient for a cart, when gathering the seed. The third 

 or fourth year the trees may be thinned, and if topped at the proper 

 season, they will produce 10 lbs. of seed in a year. The branches, if 

 planted in seasonable weather, will thrive and bear seed in the course 

 of a year ; six hundred and sixty feet by sixty-six feet divided into 

 allies of eight feet, and the trees at four feet in the row, give one 

 thousand three hunnred and twenty trees — every tree will produce 6 

 ozs of oil, wLich at 90 ozs. to a gallon, is 88 gallons per acre — the oil 

 at 13s. 4d. per gallon, one hundred acyes would produce £5,866 ; al- 

 lowing £2,000 for contingencies, there remain £3,866 net profit. 



Guinea grass may be planted under these trees to great advantage ; 

 swine are remarkably fond of the seed ; and in dry weather the 

 leaves and young branches are as useful for feeding b asts as the 

 bastard cedar ; the husk of the seed, after extracting the oil, 

 fattens pigs and poultry, by adding to every ten gallons of the husks, 

 one gallon of molasses. 



A varnish mixed with the gum of the Marengo gives the most bril- 

 liant lustre to furniture ; £200 would furnish manufacturing materials 

 for a plantation of one hundred acres ; the ashes yield potash sufficient 

 to make soap with the residue of the oil which has b-en refined. The 

 machines are, for pulping the seeds, for winnowing the chaff, and for 

 expressing the oil, all of which may be made by a common carpenter, 

 and the expense will not exceed £50. 



And praying the encouragement of the House, &c. Ordered, that 

 the above petition do lie on the table. 



No. 2 — Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol. 5 page 58. 

 On the Moringa pterygosperma, or Oil of Ben Tree. 

 By William Hamilton, M.B. 

 The Moringa pterygosperma, or horseradish -tree, although not a 

 native of the West Indies, is now perfectly naturalised there, and 

 merits attention both for its economical at-dpharraaceuticul properties. 

 On removing the winged envelope, the seeds appear somewhat like 



