126 KATUEAL HISTOET CALENDAR AT FOO-CHOW-FOO. 



long for their peculiar sorts of food and entertainment. — Gad-flies, Sand- 

 wasps, and a few Butterflies enticed out of their winter-quarters by the 

 unusual mildness of the day. 



General liemarks. — 5. A lottery on the hills. As many poor people are 

 quite undone by the seductive baits held out to them, the authorities endea- 

 vour to lay hold on the sellers of tickets, managers, &c., who choose a spot 

 whence they can see their pursuers before they arrive. — 6. The Consul calls 

 upon the Tartar General. The luncheon consisted of many courses; all the 

 viands in silver bowls kept hot by spirit-lamps of variously tinted flames. — 

 7. " Woo te meaou,'' a large temple outside the city, set on fire by a votary, 

 who came with incense and candles to ask for a dream to guide him in the 

 choice of characters for a lottery-ticket. 



XVI. — Memorandum concerning the Pine-apple Soil of the Ba- 

 hamas. In a letter from the Hon. John Campbell Lees, 

 C.M.H.S., dated Nassau, New Providence, Feb. 8, 1845. 



I SEND you a small box, containing a specimen of what is called 

 here " Pine-apple>land ;" a very red soil, and tliat alone in which 

 the pine-apple will grow. We have two other kinds of soil 

 here; one, a very white calcareous soil, consisting chiefly of 

 finely pulverized IMadrepore limestone, in which the maize or 

 Indian corn grows remarkably well ; and the other, a deep black 

 soil, I believe almost entirely vegetable, and very light, in which 

 many things grow luxuriantly, but in neither of them will the 

 pine-apple grow at all. 



The red soil does not, as far as pines are concerned, appear to 

 be improved by manure. I planted several in the same bed, 

 some without manure, and others with different proportions of 

 stable-manure ; between those in the natural soil and those 

 slightly manured, I could perceive no difference ; but beyond 

 this, in proportion to the quantity of manure, so did the 

 plants decline and turn white. I have tried plants in composts 

 of charcoal and manure, and of charcoal, earth (calcareous), 

 and guano, but without success ; nothing seeming to suit them 

 here but their favorite red soil. 



From the great perfection to which the cultivation of the 

 pine is brougirt in England, the analysis of this earth might lead 

 to the suggestion of some manure which could be applied suc- 

 cessfully to it here, for at present we have none ; and, conse- 

 quently, in a few years the soil is quite exhausted and useless, 

 and requires, it is said, a period of fourteen years to recover, and 

 then not perfectly. 



Note upon the foregoing Communication, by Edward Solly, Esq., F.R.S., 

 Professor of Chemistry to the Society. 



The " Pine-apple soil," sent by the Hon. Mr. Lees from New 

 Providence, is of a light red colour, and evidently contains a 



