1870.] BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. 357 



with the extract from this decoction mix four per cent, of rosin." 

 In Peru, the leaves of the Maguey agave are used instead of soap ; 

 the clothes are wetted, and then beaten with a leaf which has been 

 crushed ; a thick white froth is produced, and after rinsing the 

 clothes are quite clean. The pulpy matter contained in the hard 

 kernel of a tree called locally ' Del Joboncillo' is also used there for 

 the same purpose. On being mixed with water it produces a white 

 froth. In Brazil, soap is made from the ashes of the bassena or 

 broom plant (^Sida, lanceolata) , which abounds with alkali. There 

 are also some barks and pods of native plants used for soaps in 

 China. The soap-plant of California, Ph'.dangiumpomeridlanumy 

 is stated by Mr. Edwin Bryant to be exceedingly useful. The 

 bulbous root, which is the saponaceous portion, resembles the 

 onion, but possesses the quality of cleansing linen equal to any 

 olive soap manufactured. From a paper read before the Boston 

 Society of Natural History, it appears that this soap- plant grows 

 all over California. The leaves make their appearance about the 

 middle of November, or about six weeks after the rainy season 

 has fairly set in ; the plants never grow more than a foot high, 

 and the leaves and stalk drop entirely off in May, though the 

 bulbs remain in the ground all the summer without decaying. 

 It is used to wash with, in all parts of the country, and, by those 

 who know its virtues, it is preferred to the best of soap. The 

 method of using it is merely to strip off the husk, dip the clothes 

 into the water, and rub the bulb on them. It makes a thick 

 lather, and smells not unlike brown soap. At St. Nicholas, one 

 of the Cape Verde Islands, they make a soap from the oil of the 

 Jatropha ciircas seeds, and the ashes of the papaw tree leaf. The 

 oil and ashes are mixed in an iron pot heated over a fire, and 

 stirred until properly blended. When cool it is rolled up into 

 balls about the size of a six pound shot, looking much like our 

 mottled soap, and producing a very good lather. — P. L. S. in 

 the Journal of Applied Science. 



The Vultures and Humming Birds of Tropical America. 

 — At the recent meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, held at Troy, N.Y., in August, 1870, 

 Prof. James Orton read a paper upon the '^ Condor and the 

 Humming Birds of the Equatorial Region." The following 

 abstract of the Professor's paper is taken from the October (1870) 

 number of the American Naturalist : — 



