100 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.j 



ministered by the physicians of the country in cases of coHc, 

 diarrhoea, and dysentery. 



The Ordeal Poison-nut of Madagascar. — Dr. Bennett, of 

 Sydney, writes an account of this tree in the ' Journal of Botany.' 

 Specimens of it have been naturalized in New South Wales, and in 

 the Botanical Gardens at Sydney there is a very fine tree of it, 

 which somehow or other obtains a mysterious sort of respect from 

 the visitors to the gardens, who, although they do not hesitate 

 to gather from other flowers and shrul)S, stand in awe of the Ordeal- 

 tree. The flowers are very fragrant, of a crimson colour, and 

 appear in November and December. The plant belongs to the 

 natural order Apocynacese and its native name is Tanghin — whence 

 Tanghinia. The fruit is of the size of a hen's egg, containing 

 a hard stone or nut, the kernel of which is white, of a bitter taste, 

 and has remarkable poisonous properties. The poison of the ordeal- 

 nut acts directly upon the heart and muscles. When used by the 

 natives as a detector of crime, the kernel is j^ounded and adminis- 

 tered to the supposed criminal. Frequently sickness is caused, and 

 the accused then escapes. If not, the poison is rapidly absorbed, 

 and death ensues. A difierence of colour is said to exist between 

 those kernels which produce only vomiting and those which 

 produce death ; and the friends of an accused person will stand by 

 and object to certain nuts being used, The officers are said to 

 administer these two varieties in a partial way, but it is not very 

 certain that they can really discriminate between the virulent and 

 less active kernels. Dr. Bennett suggests that there may be two 

 species of Tanghinia existing in Madagascar, differing in the in- 

 tensity of their poisonous power. The milky juice of the T. Manghas 

 is said to be used as a purgative, and according to Kumphius the 

 natives boil and eat the leaves mixed with other pot-herbs, which 

 thus act as a gentle laxative. The bark is also used in Java and 

 Amboyna as a familiar cathartic, the action of which is said to 

 be very similar to that of senna. Manghas is the name given to 

 the tree in its native coimtry. 



New British Plant. — Potentilla Norvegica has been dis- 

 covered by Mr. G. S. Gibson, in Wicken Fen, near Upware, in 

 Cambridgeshire. It was found growing on the side of one of the 

 marsh ditches, and was carefully identified by comparison with the 

 specimens in the herbarium of Limie and in that at Kew. The plant 

 is inconspicuous, and likely to be passed over, except when in flower. 

 Its geographical distribution renders it unlikely to be found native 

 in the southern parts of England, and Mr. Gibson cannot account 

 for its introduction in so rough a spot, and it is not a plant that he 

 has ever seen in cultivation. We would suggest the possibihty of 

 the barges passing on the Cam, which is little better than a canal, 

 as the means of introducing the plant. There are superphosphate 



