AKBCHIN'ITK. 



,T1I 



advanced by Sir Humphrey Dvy, t UM conclusion of one of hi* 

 |w|n-r in the 'Philosophical Transactions' for 1817, giving an account 

 of him researches on flame. It u also the opinion of Sir John 

 Henchel and Alexander von Humboldt ; the latter of whom, in his 

 'Cosmos,' devotes a large (pace to the consideration of thU highly 

 interesting subject. 



Those who wish to investigate this curious subject will find it most 

 ably and copiously treated in rhlodnf* work, L'tber Pt*er-3ttleort, 

 Md tifcr Jit mil deuMa, herabyrfallnu* Ma~rn, Vienna, 181, 

 which is a aeoood edition of bin flirt treatise. The /.Itk'il-yir Atmot- 



of Irani may also be consulted ; also a good compilation by 

 Bigot de Morognea, entitled Mfmoirt Hitlorique rt Pliyiiijur mr In 

 Cktla da Kara, Orleans, 1812; Humboldfs Cotmot; and the 

 Quarterly Kefir* for December, 1S52. 



< II1MTK. mini-nil of which the principal salt i* a titanate 

 of xirconia. [TiTAXirii.] 



-< I'l.rs. 11 genus of plimU belonging to the natural order 

 itiannr. It consists of trees found in the temperate port* 

 of America and Asia, remarkable for the beauty of tin -ir tlowers and 

 leaves, and for their forming in some sort a type of tropical Teg' 

 in north. 'in latitudes. It must not be confounded with the Awulm 

 of the Romans, which was a kind of oak. [QuERcrts,] The bent 

 known species is the Common Horse-Cheatnut (..ftVrn/iw Jfippocat- 

 /(MUM), a very handsome timber-trcv, formerly much used tot 

 avenues, and still extensively planted wherever round monies of wood, 

 or gay flowering trees, are required. ltn bark and its nuts are also 

 auioug the more useful product* that the hardy trees of thin climate 

 afford. It is very singular that the native country <if thin Bpeciea 

 should be unknown. One writer says it inhabits the northern port* 

 of Asia; another, that it in found in tin- i-old provinces of India; and 

 a third assigns it to the mountain-chains of Asia Miin-r ; while nil the 

 jiooitive information that books really afford is, that it was !>rought to 

 Vienna from Con.-tantinoph- in tin- ln-ginning of the li'.th renlury. 

 and was thence dispersed through all Europe. The popular name 

 of Horse-Chestnut has arisen from the custom amoni: tin- Turks 

 of grinding the nuts and mixing them with the provender given 



INCS that are broken winded. Starch is also yielded in very 

 considerable quantity 1-y the nut* ; and, deprived of it bitterness by 

 maceration in weak ley, has been recommended as excellent nutritious 

 food for horses, goats, oxen, and sheep. The general characters of 

 the Horse-Chestnut are too well known to require description. An a 

 forest-tree, it is well adapted to light lands, upon which it will thrive. 

 although they may be very sterile ; in tenacious clay, it is always 

 stunted and unhealthy, as in the Regent's Pork ; in rich alluvial noil, 

 it acquires its greatest beauty. The timber is soft and spongy, and 







common kind in having larger and much more uu.lul .ie.1 leaves. It 

 has been cultivated fur some years in this country, but has never 

 flowered. 



Beside* these, a third specie*. ^Ktenltu eamra or, as it is sometimes 

 called, -KtrulHt rubietatda, or rottain occasionally met with in 

 gardens. It* origin is unknown. For ull pur| > of ornament, this 

 is much superior to the common kind. 



The DuckVEye Chestnuts of North America belong to the 



genus I'nria. [KvVIA.] 



The first two species of Horse-Chestnut nre propagated by sowing 

 their seeds either in the autimin at such a depth In-low tin- surface as 

 to be secure from the attacks ! n."> . or else in the spring; but in 

 the hitter case they must be preserved during the inter in heaps of 

 sand. The seeds should not be placed less than six inches iijiart 

 in the beds, because the leaves 'are so large as to require more than 

 usual space to expose themselves to light. The hurt species, and tin- 

 varieties of the first, not yielding seeds, are multiplied l>y Imdding 

 upon the common Horse-Chest nut. 



AESHNA. In this recent genus of fMlnllilir Mr. Strickland ranks 

 a fossil insect from the I .ins of Warwickshire. 



AETIIol'HY U.l M, a fossil genus of plants fn.m the K 

 Sand>' >ugniart.) 



jETIH S\ i- a genus of plants belonging to the natural order 



iiltillijtnr, which includes among its species one of the most 

 poisonous plant* km-wn in Kurope. 



.Kthuta ('i/iKi^lini, is a little annual plant, found commonly h 

 dens and tii 1.1 , re-emMing the common irsley so much that 



HorM-Cbnlnut (.1-Mului llippocailanum}. 



therefore of little value. There are no very old specimens in this 

 country, the species having been introduced, as it is said, only 

 in 1888. 



A second species, the ,Kicul** Ohiolentu, is found wild in North 

 America, on the banks of the Ohio, between 

 In stature it varies from 10 to 35 feet ; and differs from the 



acquired the vulgar name of Fool's 1'arsley. From a taper whitish 

 root arises an erect bninchy stem, about a foot high, ^ nn.ilK -tain. .1 

 with purple near the ground. This is covered by finely-cut shining 

 leaves of a deep green, much rcscinMinL,' those of lianl.-n 1'arslex. 

 from which they are known thus : in tin- true I'aH.'v. the leaves are 

 twiee pinnated or divided, and the leaflet- an- liroad, and cut into 

 three wedge-Hhaped toothed lobes; in the Fool n the other 



hand, the leaven are thrice pinnate. 1. and the leaflets are n 

 sharper, and jagged; besides which, the leaves of Fool's l'ai-1. \ have 

 a disagreeable nauseous smell, instead of the line aromatic odour of 

 Common Parsley. When in flower, .Kthtaa has its principal uniln-ls 

 te of inv.ilucra, while the partial umbels are furnished with on 

 involiicruin. con-isting of lour or five narrow sharp leaves, hanging 

 down from one M.le only of the .-0111111011 stalk : this last circumstance 

 will distinguish it when in flower, not only from jmrsley, but from all 

 other l'.riti-li uml-elhterou- plants. 



Many dangenms neei.li'iits 1. '..Ifnun mistaking; this plant 



The symptoms attendant upon jKiisoning l>y .Kllnita are, 

 iwimmmg '( the head, nauwio, cold ]M-rspii-ntion, and . -hilline. s at the 

 extremities. To counteract it* effects, emetics are recommended, and 

 the immediate use of weak vegetable acids, such as lemon-juice, 

 vinegar, or sour wine. 



