P OP ULAR MIS CELL AN Y. 



7*7 



was given a whole plant, with root and 

 stem, by a native, and found its odor pene- 

 trating enough. The stem is three or four 

 feet high ; the leaves are incised like those 

 of other umbelliferous plants. The root is 

 impregnated with the gum, which exudes 

 wherever a cut is made, appearing of a light 

 amber-color, hard consistency, and somewhat 

 crystalline look. The root bears numerous 

 side-roots, and is covered with a brown, scaly 

 skin, crossed with rings. The plant grows 

 in stony ground, blooms in the spring-time, 

 and is propagated from the seeds. The gum 

 is not collected from the roots till the plant 

 is fifteen years old. At that time the stalk 

 is cut off after the plant has blossomed and 

 the seed has ripened. In a day or two after- 

 ward there exudes a thick, creamy, whitish 

 juice, that soon becomes brown and hard. 

 In about twelve days the amber-colored gum 

 is taken off. A new cut is then made in the 

 plant, and another " crop " of gum collected ; 

 and the operation may be repeated, if the 

 season is favorable, six or eight times in a 

 single summer. But the returns from the 

 later cuttings are inferior to those from the 

 first. A single root may furnish from a 

 half pound to a pound of the gum in a sea- 

 son. Rain spoils the gum, and if it happens 

 to be wet during the time of collecting, the 

 crop for that year will have to be written 

 down a failure. The plant that has been 

 once operated upon is left to itself for ten 

 or twelve years, when it becomes available 

 for another crop. 



Brain -Volume and Intelligence. — Dr. 



Adolph Bloch has published in the " Revue 

 d' Anthropologic " a memoir on the relations 

 existing between intelligence and the vol- 

 ume of the brain in man. He concludes 

 that there is no absolute relation, for very 

 intelligent persons may have a small brain, 

 and individuals of very mediocre capacity a 

 large one. We may also find among some 

 races which are not considered very intelli- 

 gent a brain or cranial capacity of relative- 

 ly considerable amplitude. The conditions, 

 moreover, which make the brain to be larger 

 or smaller are manifold. The volume of 

 the encephalus may be related to the size, 

 to the weight of the body, and to the muscu- 

 lar power ; and the brain itself may become 

 voluminous in the race and the individual 



according to the degree of intellectual activ- 

 ity. The most important factor in the de- 

 gree of the intelligence of the individual is 

 the quality of the cerebral cell ; and that is 

 determined by the greater or less impres- 

 sionability or excitability of that structure 

 regarded as the substratum of intelligence. 

 This impressionability may be native or ac- 

 quired. In the former case it is the mark 

 of a superior intelligence ; in the latter, it 

 may be produced by such sustained labor as 

 every man of genius is compelled to endure. 

 It may also be developed by nervous dis- 

 ease. In a whole race, there are influences, 

 not depending on the individual, but acting 

 upon all that contribute to the perfection 

 of intelligence and the selection of remark- 

 able men. The kind and degree of intelli- 

 gence are also variable according to races ; 

 but in no case can the volume of the brain 

 alone constitute the principal factor of in- 

 telligence. 



The Protection of Rare Species of Plants. 



— The Association for the Protection of 

 Plants, at Geneva, Switzerland, Henry Cor- 

 revon secretary, has issued a circular, set- 

 ing forth its objects and inviting horticult- 

 urists and collectors to assist it in carrying 

 them out. The circular alludes to the anx- 

 iety which naturalists feel lest some rare 

 species may be extinguished through the 

 operations of man; and others which but 

 for the possession of unusual means of de- 

 fense would be in danger of succumbing at 

 once under an attack of more than ordinary 

 vigor. Some species are approaching the 

 term of their existence. Their end may be 

 hastened by man, although he may perhaps 

 not be able greatly to prolong their lives. 

 Some plants are cultivated in modified forms 

 as choice varieties, while the original stocks 

 are neglected and allowed to die out ; some, 

 of foreign origin, live a kind of colonial ex- 

 istence in particular countries, and need 

 care to preserve them there. Some are the 

 objects of vigorous search by amateurs and 

 horticulturists, who often pluck them reck- 

 lessly without reflecting that the place where 

 they are found may be the only spot in the 

 country where they occur. The Dracoecph- 

 alum Austriacinn and Diciamus fraxiiuVa 

 have nearly disappeared from their native 

 haunts. Plants like the Paradisia lilia- 



