•154 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



Balsam of Gilead tree. The balsam is a resinous juice that distills from th<* 

 tree naturally. It is at first turbid and white, of a strong pungent agreeabb' 

 smell, and slightly bitter acrid taste; upon beinr: kept, it becomes thin, 

 limpid, of a greenish hue, then of a golden yellow colour, and at length Uk»- 

 honey. It is highly prized among the eastern nations, particularly by the 

 Turks ;>nd Arabs, both as a medicine, and odoriferous unguent and cosme- 

 tic. It na* been highly extolled as a powerful antiseptic, vulnerary, and 

 prfeVeiitative of the plague. In its medicinal properties, it agrees with the 

 balsam 01 "•> In, Peru, and others of the same class: but its great scarcity 

 has prevented it from coming into use among the European practitioners. 

 Tt is extren.r-ly liable to adulteration, and from its high price and scarcity, 

 we believe that a single ounce of genumc balsam of Gilead is not to be ob- 

 tained in this country, or even in Europe. 



Double Cocoa nitt — For a long time the palm which yields the double 

 cocoa-nut was altogether unknown : the fruit was found either at sea, or 

 cast a' lie Isle of France, and generally in a state of decay, or per- 



forated by insects, and its origin was considered to be mysterious. It has, 

 however, been completely ascertained that it grows on "the Seychelles, a 

 group of islands to t lie north cast of Madagascar ; and it is perhaps the most 

 local plant in the world, beinsr confined to three small islands, called Pras- 

 lin, Curieuse and Ronde, within a half a mile of each other, mountainous 

 and rocky, and the soil poor. The trunk of this splendid palm rises straight 

 to the height of 60 or even 00 feet, and is crowned at top with a tuft oi 

 from twel Ve to twenty magnificent leaves, each leaf nearly 20 feet long, and 

 10 feet wide. The male and female flowers are produced on different trees. 

 The structure of these and of the nuts have lately been fully described and 

 illustrated by our distinguished countryman, Dr. Hooker, in the Botani- 

 cal Magazine. Through the zeal and attention of Mr. Telfair of the 

 Mauritius, and Mr. Harrison of the Seychelles, germinating nuts of the 

 double cocoa are shortly expected in this country; and this palm wilt, we 

 hope, ere long be seen flourishing in the stoves of our Botanic Garden. 



Cycas revoliita. Flowered last summer at Wentworth House. Thrive 

 at Madeira, in a spot 300 ft. above the level of the sea. "The Japanese, of 

 whose country the plant is a native, eat the fruits ; and from the trunk ex- 

 tract a kind of sasro, which it highly esteemed, especially by the people of 

 rank. On this account, the plant is much cultivated about their houses, 

 and is forbidden to be exported. A very small quantity of the medulla or 

 pith suffices to satisfy the hunger of a soldier in the time of war.*' 



Cerber" Tdnqhin; A pocyneae. A Madagascar tree, which produces a hard 

 veined wood, fit for cabinet-work and inlaying, and a fruit, the kernel of 

 which is rather larger than an almond, and so powerful a poison that one 

 kernel would destroy above twenty persons. In Madagascar this poison is 

 vised as an ordeal; and the priests, who at the same time are the physicians, 

 administer it to the victims, not doubting its power of revealing guilt or 

 clearing innocence. 



JPapaver somnifcrvirh. A showy garden annual in England, but in Tur- 

 key, Persia, India, and other warm climates, extensively cultivated for the 

 purpose of obtaining opium, and for the warm bland oil which is expressed 

 from its seeds, and serves as a substitute in these countries, as well as in 

 Europe, for the oil of olives. "The unripe capsules, upon being wounded 

 as they grow, exude plentifully a whitish, opaque, milky juice, which by 

 drying becomes opium. . . . The plants in the East are well watered from 

 the time when the flowers begin to appear till the capsules are half grown, 

 when it is discontinued, and they begin to collect the opium. This they 

 effect by making, at snnset, two longitudinal incisions from below upwards, 

 without penetrating the internal cavity, with an instrument that lias two 

 points as fine and sharp as a lancet. The incisions are repeated every even- 

 ing, until each capsule shall have received six or eight wounds, and they 

 are then allowed to ripen their seeds. The juice which exudes is collected 

 in the morning by women and children, who scrape it oft" tin- wounds with a 

 small iron scoop, and, being inspissated to a proper consistence by working 

 it with wooden spatulas in an earthen pot in the sun's heat, it is formed into 

 cakes for sale " In Britain, opium has been obtained from the poppy, said 



