G31 



upon them throughout Asia was once so enormous that, previous to 

 the discovery of these islands, a single nut has been known to sell for 

 between ^£300. and ^£400. and the Indian princes had cups made of 

 them, ornamented with gold and precious stones ; but since the French 

 traders furnished the Indian market with them more plentifully, they 

 have lost much of their estimation and with it their rarity. Among 

 the different properties which have been attributed to this tree, some 

 are fabulous, and the others are not sufficiently consistent. The phy- 

 sicians of Asia pretended that this nut was an antiscorbutic, would ef- 

 fect a radical cure of the venereal disease, and was an antidote against 

 poison. It was also believed that the kernel had an astruigent qual- 

 ity and might be used to remove dysentry. It is known to botanists 

 as the nux medica. The discovery of this nut on the coasts of the 

 Maldives and Malabar, more than four hundred leagues from the 

 place of growth, is useful for making known the direction of the 

 currents."— p. 398. 



We fully agree with our friend when he says that his Coco de mer 

 is one of the most extraordinary productions in nature ; since a tree 

 which possesses the following characteristics must indeed be a phe- 

 nomenon. It belongs to " the genus monoclytedones." " The head is 

 covered with from ten to twelve palms, of nearly twenty feet in length. 

 The pedicle is sloping in its contour," " The pistil of the Jlower 

 gives, when ripe, a spherical fruit of from eight to ten inches in 

 diameter," though " the seed-vessel is about two feet long, and three 

 inches in diameter, studded with small yellow flowers, issuing from 

 the angular productions, which resemble those of a pine apple." We 

 need not dwell on the extraordinary fact described in the untranslated 

 passage, nor on that mentioned in the succeeding sentence : the ker- 

 nel being " known to botanists as the nux medica.^'' 



We know not the nature of " the sternest possible ordeal " to which 

 the author assures us " every pari of the work has been subjected :" 

 we can only advise him, and that seriously, to subject the sixteen or 

 seventeen pages filled with such rubbish as we have quoted to an 

 ordeal still more stern than his " sternest possible," — the ordeal by fire. 



b. 



On the Potato Disease. * By P. B. Ayres. M. D. 



At the request of the Secretary of the Society, I have drawn uj) the 



few following hasty observations on the affection of the potatoes, which 



has contributed to produce so powerful an effect on our economical 



*' Read before the Botanical Society of London, September 4tb, 1846. 



