190 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



French soldiers in Algiers, and of the Arab na- 

 tions. ■ Without pretending to dispute the accu- 

 racy of M. de Gasparin's conclusions, I may be 

 allowed to state that the experience of the Arab 

 tribes is not entirely in his favor. It is well 

 known that the Wahabis, who dissent from Islam- 

 ism, scrupulously abstain from colTee ; and al- 

 though I have lived with many of this sect, I 

 never found that they were less temperate or less 

 capable of fatigue than their coffee-drinking coun- 

 trymen. If a proof more convincing than the 

 above is sought, it will be found in Abyssinia, 

 where the Mussulmans, who drink coffee several 

 times a day, support a fast with less ease than the 

 Christians. This has been many times observed 

 by my brother, M. Arnauld d'Abbadie, who com- 

 manded soldiers of both religions in the wars of 

 Gojjam. In the disastrous retreats across desert 

 countries, the Mussulmans always suffered more 

 than the Christians. The latter, who tliink it a 

 crime to drink coffee, will follow the army on 

 foot, heavily laden, for three successive days 

 without any other refreshment than a little earth 

 soaked in cold water. These same soldiers will 

 fight during Lent without other nourishment than 

 a quarter of a pound of unsifted llnur, which is 

 often baked in aslies, and without leaven. This 

 flour is less nutritious than that of wheat, and the 

 single meal is often at sunset, after a latiguiiiir 

 day's march, and a twenty-four hours' fast. The 

 Abyssinians are both less strong and less tempe- 

 rate than the Gallas. The latter, the whole ob- 

 ject of whose existence seems to be continual 

 warfare, often pass several days in succession in 

 the deserts which separate them from their ene- 

 mies. The Gallas then fast for an incredible 

 length of time, which the traveller Bruce explains 

 by their use of coffee b( iled with its shell in but- 

 ler, and seasoned with salt. It is true that the 

 Gallas do use this substance, which will keep a 

 long time, and which I have often tasted with 

 pleasure, but they do not look upon it as an ali- 

 ment. Before undertaking their military expedi- 

 tions, they lay in an extra stock of strength by a 

 very substantial and varied repast, taken in abso- 

 lute rest, in huts at a distance from their women. 

 They then start with a few Chick-peas, which 

 they eat raw, and which they soon finish, fast if 

 necessary for several days together, and after- 

 wards fight with such vigor that their enemies 

 never mention it without some expression of as- 

 tonishment. It is well known that in Abyssinia, 

 raw meat, whether fat or lean, does not possess 

 the nutritive qualities which have been ascribed 

 to it by M. Magendie in European meat. Whilst 

 staying with the army of Agame, I heard the 

 soldiers, who daily killed some hundreds of oxen, 

 complain that they were losing their strength 

 from exclusively eating raw meat. One of my 

 porters gave up his situation and refused the 

 extra pay which I offered him, because he said 

 that he was losing his strength from the want of 



bread and the constant eating of raw flesh. This 

 fact is admitted as true by all Abyssinians, not- 

 withstanding their great liking for uncooked meat. 

 An Abyssinian epicure would despise a meal 

 which did not, partly at least, consist of a good 

 raw lump of cow's flesh, still warm with animal 

 heat and seasoned with pepper. On the other 

 hand, my brother is satisfied, both by observation 

 and by experiment, that, in the same countries, 

 meat dried in the sun restores one's strength much 

 better than raw meat, though not so well as corn. 

 Comptes Rendus. 



DESTRtTCTiON OF Wasps. — The annual sport 

 among the youths of Traquair came to a close on 

 Saturday, the 1st of June. The)^ have bagged 

 less game, and also less money, than usual this 

 year. Let us take a retrospective view of the 

 havoc that has been made among wasps for the 

 last seven years, which will show how anxious 

 the Earl of Traquair is to get rid of this destruc- 

 tive pest in his neighborhood: — In 1844 there 

 were destroyed 244 dozen; in 1845, 1573 dozen, 

 weight 4 lbs. 9^ oz. ; in 1846, not a wasp to be 

 found; in 1847, 4 dozen only, weight 4 oz. ; in 

 1848, there were destroyed 1273-5 dozen, weight 

 4 lbs. 7 oz.; in 1849, 865^ dozen, weight 2 lbs. 

 8 oz.; in 1850, 528^ dozen, weight 1 lb. ll-^ oz. 

 Total, 4459^ doz., weight .'3 lbs. 8 oz. during 

 the last seven years, or rather five years, as in 

 1846-47, only four dozens were taken; these 

 dozens will make the number of wasps to be 

 53,514 — a good round number certainly in a cir- 

 cuit of three miles. Now. If all, or even one-half, 

 of the proprietors in the country would use the 

 same means to exterminate these insects, a wasp 

 would soon be as rare a siu'ht as a red deer on 

 the hills around us. Edinburgh Evening Courard, 



Preservation of Green Kidney Beans — 

 The following is the process emj)loyed by M. 

 Gelien de Montigny, for the preservation of green 

 Kidney Beans. In fine weather gather the pods, 

 before the seeds are too visible, take the threads 

 off", plunge the pods in boiling water, and take 

 them out again immediately; let them cool, put 

 them in a tub in layers five inches deep, alterna- 

 ting with vine leaA'es, which must begin and end 

 the series; on the top of the last layer of vine 

 leaves, put a stone, heavy enough to keep the 

 whole well pressed. Then pour in some salt wa- 

 ter until the top is covered ; replace the water as 

 it evaporates. The Beans can thus be preserved 

 quite fresh.. Flore des Serres. 



Jjvpan Lilies. — Few plants of recent introduc- 

 tion are more handsome or attractive than the Ja- 

 pan Lilies. They come into bloom at a time 

 when the great majority of our New-Holland 

 plants are over, and when an actual paucity of 

 flowering plants exist, wherewith to decorate the 

 conservatory and green-house, and what really 



