520 



Poisonous 



cicut to constitute tliis ^ass a distinct 

 vancty of the species vulgaris, under 

 the genus agrostis. 



A specimen of the " hoary grass" 

 was seiit some years since to Mr. Sliep- 

 herd, curator of the botanic garden near 

 iiiverpoo!, where it has been lately seen 

 in a flourishing state; whether in any 

 other situation, remains to be proved. 



As the subject of another enquiry, I 

 Ibeg to lay before you some references 

 to chemical works, on the deleterious 

 qualities of common brick, when applied 

 to the construction of wells and other 

 reservoirs of water. 



" Brick-water (observes the author 

 bf the Panorama,) is possessed of pro- 

 perties highly pernicious in their cfTccts 

 when applied to culinary purposes."* 

 The late Dr. Percival pronounced this 

 water to be extremely unwholesome; 

 and, therefore, discouraged the use of 

 brick for linings of walls. 



He steeped two or three pieces of 

 common brick in a basin of distilled 

 water for four days. This he afterwards 

 exaniined by various chemical tests; 

 it was not miscible with soap; struck 

 a lively green with syrup of violets ; 

 fcccame slightly lactescent by volatile 

 alkali, but entirely so by the fixed alkali, 

 luid by a solution of sugar of lead: no 

 ehange was produced upon it by an in- 

 fnsion of termentil-root. Hence the 

 Doctor inferred the pernicious qualities 

 of the water in question. 



Here a question may arise, whether 

 the fire-brick, composed of Stourbridge 

 clay, may not answer the intended pur- 

 pose as well as stone, which in some 

 situations is not equally attainable? 

 The freedom of this species of clay from 

 ferrusinous and other metallic particles, 

 as well as from calcareous ones, seems 

 to plead powerfully in its behalf. 

 Stourbridge (Wor'.) ^y^, g^^^^^ 

 Aug: 28, 1816. 



To the Editor of tlie Montlihj Magazine. 



SIR, 



YOUR valuable Magazine reaches 

 most quarters of the world, and 

 lias so extensive a circulation, that I beg 

 you will give in it the following no- 

 tice respecting two sorts of poison 

 plums, which I met with when becalmed 

 off the north-east coast of New Holland; 

 being engaged there in whale fishing, 

 with wonderful success. I am no bota- 

 nist, but ^Ir. Smith, our mate and sur- 

 geon, who attended Dr. Thornton's lec- 



* As quoted ia the Panorama, 



Plums. [Oct. 1, 



tnres in London, lias given the follow- 

 ing description of them in a catalogue 

 of new plants and insects which he col- 

 lected. 



1. (Jycas Toxicaria, frondibus basi spi- 

 nosis, pinnis lineari-lanceolatis convexiiis- 

 en! is iTiucronatis, spadicibus apice prse- 

 niorsis. 



2. Cycas Australis, frondibus basi spi- 

 nosis, pinnis lineari-lanceolatis concavius- 

 culis acutis, spadicibus apice acuniinatis. 



Being ill in my hammock, I did not go 

 on shore, — so, fortunately, did not taste 

 these poison plums; but Mr. Smith 

 himself, and all the crew «ho ate them, 

 were exceeding sick, and one man died 

 convulsed with the purging. They are 

 very enticing to the eye, and as big as 

 our Pis/ianiius. The second sort was 

 not meddled with, and grows nearer to 

 Timor ; but Mr. Smith thinks it to be as 

 poisonous as the other; and it had a 

 very nasty smell, therefore is not .";o dan- 

 gerous. Ebenezer Mason. 



Charles Town ; June 9. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 

 SIR, 



1HAVE been much employed in my 

 profession in buildings and houses 

 infected by the fungus, or dry-rot ; and 

 the success attending my mode of pre- 

 venting and curing it, has suggested the 

 utility of circulating it through the 

 medium of your widely-dispersed Ma- 

 gazine. 



The cases of this nature which have 

 fallen under my attention have come to 

 nic from a pamphlet of mine, published 

 many years since ; and what I propose 

 for your journal will be facts arising 

 from my subsequent experience in the 

 prevention and cure of this vegetable 

 phenomenon. 



In the autumn of the year 1809, I 

 had a commission to^mdertake and cure 

 the dry-rot at a villa at Snnbury, in 

 Middlesex. Sunbury is situated on the 

 banks of the river Thames, between 

 Hampton and Staines. On examining 

 the h()u;r, it did not appear that dry-rot 

 had been in it long, and was at this time 

 occasioned, not by any predisposition in 

 the situation or construction to promotd 

 it, but was owing entirely to an excess 

 in swell of the water inland, as well as 

 the river, which had overflowed its 

 banks, and filled all the lower apart- 

 ments of the house with water. After 

 these waters had subsided, or at least 

 in a few mouths after, fungi were disco- 

 vered in every part, the least excluded 

 from the operation of tljc light and air. 



It 



