1870.] BULGER — ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 73 



numerous little flowers, which are first straw-coloured, and 

 afterwards of a deep purple. The fruit is a round, black berry. 

 The outer timber is white and almost inodorous — the fragrant 

 portion being only the yellow heart-wood, which is very hard and 

 very handsome. The perfume extracted from sandal-wood is 

 highly prized amongst the Easterns, and it is, perhaps, more 

 extensively used than any other. Medicinal qualities are at- 

 tributed to the essential oil, as also to the powdered heart-wood. 

 The Santalum album is supposed, by some authors, to be identical 

 with the almug or algum trees of Scripture. The name is derived 

 from the Persian word sandid. 



Indian Shot (Canna Indlca, Linn.) — This pretty little 

 shrub, with its large leaves and bright scarlet flowers, is very 

 ornamental, and, consequently, cultivated extensively in gardens. 

 It is a native of the tropics in both hemispheres. The seeds are 

 round, black and glossy, resembling shot — hence the English 

 name. The root-stalk of some of the species is edible, and, from 

 one kind at least, is obtained the substance called tous les mois. 

 The leaves are used as thatch, and from the seeds is prepared a 

 beautiful purple dye; the roots, seeds, etc., are employed in Hindoo 

 medicine, Loudon says that, in America and the Brazils, the 

 Canna is called wild plantain, and that the leaves are used as 

 envelopes for many articles of commerce, — hence, probably, the 

 French name halisier — halija being Spanish for envelope. Francis 

 Buchanan tells us (Asiatic Researches, vol. vi.) that this plant is 

 peculiarly sacred to Bouddha, as it is supposed to have sprung 

 from his blood, when, once on a time, he had cut his foot, by 

 striking it against a stone ; and that, therefore, the Burmese value 

 the seeds for rosaries. It belongs to the nat. ord. Marantacece, 

 and its name is derived from a Celtic word signifying a cane 

 or mat. 



Great A^ierican Aloe (Agave Americana, Linn.) — The 

 romance which made the so-called American Aloe a centennial 

 flower has passed away, and it is now well known that the in- 

 tervals between its periods of bloom are very much shorter than 

 was supposed, and that they depend, when the plant is under 

 cultivation, pretty much on the mode of treating it. It is a noble 

 and striking object, especially when its long, stately flower- 

 scape towers up to the height of 18 or 20 feet from the centre of 

 its clustre of sword-like, succulent leaves. The various species 

 are applied to many useful purposes in the difi"erent parts of the 



