100 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March 



dens, for while other things suffer from their depredations it has 

 been remarked that this is the best preserved tree in the collection." 

 This specimen is twenty feet high, and the circumference of the 

 branches full fifty feet. It flowers in November and December, 

 and is often at the same time covered with fruit in different stages 

 of maturity. The fruit, which is oviform and about the size of 

 a hen's egg, contains a hard nut with a dark brown shell,* the 

 white kernel of which is in size, appearance and taste like a bitter 

 almond. The Tanghmia veneniflua is a specific poison for the 

 heart and muscles, acting powerfully on the heart. Some of the 

 natives of Madagascar say that there are two kinds of these trees, 

 the one poisonous, the other only emetic, and so similar in appear- 

 ance that none but the administrators know the difference, and 

 that even they sometimes err and kill when they intend only to 

 sicken. Dr. Bennett suggests that there may be two species of 

 Tanghinia found in Madagascar, one of which may be analogous 

 to the T. ManglKxs of India, the milky juice of the fruit of which 

 is used as a purgative. 



Canadian Wild Flowers.— Under this title Mrs. Fitzgib- 

 bon has published a very pretty volume for the parlor table, 

 consisting of ten lithographic plates of some of our showiest wild 

 flowers, drawn on stones by herself and afterwards coloured by 

 hand. The letter-press, consisting of popular descriptions of each 

 plant, is by Mrs. Traill, and is part of a work by that authoress 

 still in MS. " descriptive of the most remarkable of the wild 

 " flowers, shrubs and forest trees of Canada.'' Mrs. Traill's 

 English names of flowers are excellent; in lieu of the vulgar 

 Dutchman's Breeches for Dicentra Cucullaria she proposes the 

 characteristic Fly-flower. The elegant name Gossamer-fern for 

 Dichsonia punctilohula is also hers. The publisher's portion of 

 the work is the least satisfactory. The plates are on poor paper, 

 and the text needs the supervision of a proof-reader. The following 

 is the list of species illustrated by the ten plates : — 



Anemone nemorosa Linn. Trientalis Americana Pursh. 



Hepatica acutiloba BeO. Penstemon pubescens Solatid. 



Aquilegia Canadensis Linn. Veronica Americana Linn. 



Nymphsea odorata Aiton. Castilleia coccinea Spreng. 



Nuphar advena Aiton. Arisama triphyllum Torr. 



Sarracenia purpurea Linn. Orchis spectabilis Linn. 



* Some of these nuts are in the Society's museum. 



