79S The yonvnal of Forcstiy. 



curator, Mr. James IM'Nab, who brings long experience and matured 

 knowledge to bear on this most important branch of botanical science. 



The admiraljle summary given by him in the tenth paper of the state of 

 vegetation at the various periods reported in 1877 is highly instructive 

 and must be of great assistance to many in their choice of hardy trees and 

 other plants, especially such as are suitable for decorative purposes. 



Of the remaining four papers in the Transactions, viz., six, on " New 

 Pezizffi at luverleith House" (illustrated) ; seven, on " Fossil Plants from 

 the Calciferous Sandstone around Edinburgh ; " eleven, " A Six Weeks' 

 Botanical Tour in the Levant ; " and twelve, " Notes upon some Plants 

 of the British Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh," we 

 may say that they are of great interest to all botanical students. 



The Proceedings of the Society, which occupy twenty-four pages, and 

 contain a great variety of most interesting notes and other memoranda of 

 papers read, plants and other articles exhibited, and the discussions which 

 take place at the meetings, linishes with some "Statistics of the Edin- 

 burgh University Botanical Class for 1877," from which we learn that the 

 number of pupils during the session was 389 ; the number of lectures 

 given being Q^^ the number of practical demonstrations 55, and the 

 number of fresh specimens of plants used to illustrate the lectures being 

 ■18,820. Botanical excursions of the students are a special feature of the 

 Edinburgh University. During the session 51^1 of them availed themselves 

 of the excursions to various parts of the country, traversing over 500 miles, 

 and collecting G7G distinct species of plants, which shows an amount of 

 industry and enthusiasm quite unequalled by any other university in the 

 country in the pursuit of botanical knowledge. 



Heavy and Light Woods. — The woods that are heavier than water are 

 Dutch box, Indian cedar, ebony, lignum vitas, mahogany, heart of oak, and 

 pomegranate vine. Lignum vitas is one-third heavier, pomegranate rather 

 more. On the other hand, cork, having a specific gravity of -21, and poplar 

 of 'oSS, are amongst the lightest of timber products. — D. 



The Feuit of the Service Tree. — Large quantities of these are sold in 

 the streets of Constantinople duriug the autumn, under the name of Kb'djichs, 

 i. e., Little Reds. They are plucked before they are ripe, that is to say, when 

 they are brifjht red. The first time I tasted them, thinking from their appear- 

 ance that they were cooling and luscious, I crammed a coupleinto my mouth 

 expecting a treat, but was soon undeceived. In their unripe condition they 

 are the very concentration of all that is acid and astringent, so much so that 

 a Turkish mother will call her peevish crying baby a Kidljiclc. Their flowers 

 must be something like that of the fruit Tamarind, so graphically described 

 by Mark Twain, for my mouth, like his, assumed the form of the stalk end of 

 a Tomato, and preserved it for several hours. With a certain amount of sugar 

 they make a deliciously refreshing drink for use in hot weather. They arc 

 eaten in large quantities by all the Ottomans, both Christian and Moslem, as 

 an infalUble preventive of diarrhoea. Plucked when they are just losing their 

 bright red hue they make an excellent preserve, which the Greek and Armenian 

 housewives consider to be valuable. — C. Q. W. 



