MISCELLANEA. 



65 



Note 0)1 the Juice of the Vallota purpurea. — As I have not seen 

 any account of the juice which is secreted in the beautiful lily, 

 Vallota pufyiirea, I beg to make a remark or two upon it, in 

 the hope that some chemical member of the Club may make a 

 complete examination of its properties. The juice is contained 

 in the leaves of the Vallota, but in much more abundance in the 

 flowering stems. It is colourless and transparent, but in taste 

 it resembles Quinine; it being extremely bitter, nauseous, and 

 acrid. Indeed, the bitterness is such that I am induced to think 

 the juice — unless it be poisonous — might be used with benefit in 

 medicine. I tested this juice in several different ways, which 

 I here detail : — Li?ne icater produced no effect. Tincture of 

 Galls gave no black tint, nor in any way changed its colour 

 except, in causing it to become thick or turbid. Muriatic 

 Acid effected no change. Alum icater produced a slight inky, 

 or bluish-black tint, but this did not last long. Tincture 

 of Iodine caused the juice to become thick and of a red-hrown 

 colour. Also, I found that the juice applied when fresh to white 

 linen and to white paper imparted no colour whatever, although 

 a drop or two having fallen accideiitally on green cloth, with 

 which a book was covered, soon changed the colour to yelloic. If 

 the juice be found serviceable in medicine, either as a substitute 

 for Quinine, or in any other form, it can be obtained without diffi- 

 culty, since the Vallota is a plant easily cultivated and propa- 

 gated by a ready increase of bulbs ; probably also by seeds. — 

 Ibid. 



Georyssus pygmceics- — During a recent ramble in Cumber- 

 land, I met with a small Coleopterous Insect, whose economy 

 is very peculiar. This little beetle, the Georyssus pygmceus, 

 Fabr., is of small size, bluish-black, very strongly and distinctly 

 sculptured. Each individual is com^oletely coated above with a 

 thick cover of muddy sand, under which it totters about in a 

 comical manner. How this earthy cover is attained, and what 

 purposes it can serve, is to me a puzzle. That it is not the 

 result of accident I am pretty certain, for all (and I caught 

 upwards of fifty) were so coated ; indeed, it fitted them so closely, 



VOL. IV. PT. I. I 



