402 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



wild boars of Sicily. The name cyclamen is derived from the 

 Greek KVK\OS (ku'-klos), a circle, in allusion to the shape of the 

 corm or bulb-like stem. 



SECTION LVII. EBENACEJ3, OB EBENADS. 



Characteristics : Calyx free ; corolla hypogynous, monopeta- 

 lous ; stamens sometimes equal in number to that of the lobea 

 of the corolla, and alternating with them, sometimes double or 

 quadruple in number ; ovary many-celled, each cell uniovulate ; 

 ovules pendent from the summit of the central angle ; fruit bac- 

 ciform ; seeds few in number, or occasionally one, dicotyledonous, 

 albumen cartilaginous, radicle superior. Trees or shrubs possess- 

 ing an aqueous juice, and furnishing a wood which is very dense. 



Individuals of this natural order have alternate leaves which 

 are coriaceous, entire, and without stipules. Flowers often 

 incomplete, regular, axillary. Calyx three to six partite and 

 persistent. The corolla is caducous, urceolate, slightly coria- 

 ceous, three to six partite, imbricated in cestivation. Stamens 

 inserted at the base of the corolla, rarely in the receptacle. 

 The berry is globular or ovoid, sometimes dry, in which case it 

 opens by splitting. 



The Ebenacew are found in tropical Asia, the Cape, Australia, 

 and tropical America ; a few species are met with in the Medi- 

 terranean district. 



The members of this natural order are celebrated for the 

 hardness of their wood. Ebony, the wood of the Diospyros 

 Ebenus, has been celebrated from all antiquity for the darkness 

 of its hue, general beauty, and manifold uses. The ancients 

 obtained it from Ethiopia ; at present our supplies are chiefly 

 drawn from the eastern coast of Africa, especially Mozambique. 

 Ebony is either uniformly black or marked with white and 

 yollow stripes. It is a remarkable fact that the wood of the 

 Ebenacece only becomes black in aged trees ; the wood of young 

 plants is white. The appended diagram (Fig. 206) of a sprig 

 of the Diospyros hirsute,, a member of this natural order, illus- 

 trates the more evident characteristics of the Ebenacece. 



SECTION LVIII. AQUIFOLIACE^], OB HOLLYWOETS. 



Characteristics : Calyx free, four to six partite ; corolla hypo- 

 gynous, almost monopetalous ; stamens four to six, alternate 

 with the petals ; ovary two to six or many celled, each cell 

 uniovulate ; ovule pendent ; fruit fleshy ; seed dicotyledonous ; 

 embryo straight at the summit of an abundant fleshy albumen ; 

 radicle superior ; leaves opposite, simple, without stipules. The 

 Aquifoliacece are evergreen ligneous plants, with petiolate 

 shining leaves. The flowers are regular, axillary, and small, 

 usually white or greenish in colour. Calyx persistent, imbri- 

 cated in sestivation, as is also the corolla. Anthers adnate; 

 ovules pendent at the summit of the central angle of each cell, 

 and reflexed ; fruit composed of agglomerated drupes. 



The Aquifoliacece are nowhere abundant, but they are more 

 plentiful in north and equatorial America and the Cape of Good 

 Hope than elsewhere. In tropical Asia and in Europe they are 

 comparatively rare. 



Most of the species of this natural order contain a bitter 

 extractive principle, to which the denomination ilicine is given, 

 and which in certain species is associated with varying propor- 

 tions of an aromatic resin and a glutinous matter termed viscine. 

 Some species are purely tonic, whilst others are purgative and 

 emetic ; a few are stimulant. 



The common holly (Ilex aquifolium, Fig. 207) is a small tree 

 distributed between the forty-second and fifty-fifth parallels of 

 north latitude, and which in cold climates is only an unpretend- 

 ing shrub. It grows in greatest perfection in the mountainous 

 forests of eastern Europe. In gardens it is cultivated for the 

 sake of its pretty red berries and the deep green of its glossy 

 leaves. By force of culture many varieties of the holly have 

 been obtained, some bearing leaves devoid of spines, some having 

 black, yellow, or white instead of red berries. Holly leaves 

 were once employed as a febrifuge ; they owe their medicinal 

 properties to a principle termed ilicine, which admits of being 

 extracted. Ilicine has been proposed instead of quina as a 

 remedy for intermittent fever. From the inner bark of the 

 holly the substance birdlime is obtained. 



SECTION LIX.-OLEACE.ffi, OE OLIVEWOETS. 

 Characteristics : Calyx free ; corolla hypogynous, regular, 

 composed of four petals, free or coherent ; stamens two, inserted 

 ipon the corolla ; ovary two to five celled, bi- or pluri-ovulate ; 



ovules pendent; fruit baccifonn or capsular, indehiscent, 

 loculicidal ; seeds pendent, dicotyledonous, albuminous ; stem 

 ligneous. 



The Oleacece are trees or shrubs having opposite petiolate 

 leaves without stipules. Flowers ordinarily complete and dis- 

 posed in a panicle, cyme, or fascicle. Calyx persistent, four 

 partite, sometimes absent. Corolla sometimes absent, composed 

 of four petals, ordinarily coherent, infundibuliform or campanu- 

 late, valvate in aestivation. Anthers attached by their posterior 

 side, ovules ordinarily twin. Fruit in some cases an unilocular 

 drupe, as in the olive ; sometimes a bilocular berry, at other 

 times a bivalved capsule, or, lastly, a dehiscent capsule. The 

 embryo occupies the axis of a central albumen ; radicle superior. 



The Oleacece inhabit temperate regions, especially in the 

 northern hemisphere. They are rare in Asia and tropical 

 America. The greater number of ash species (belonging to this 

 natural order) are natives of North America. The lilacs have 

 passed into Europe from the East. This natural order is in- 

 teresting in the double respect of agriculture and horticulture. 

 The cultivated olive (Olea sativa, Fig. 208) is a tree of little 

 beauty, but whose utility is immense. It is a native of southern 

 Europe. Its drupaceous fruit, the olive, is too well known to 

 need prolonged description. The pericarp of this drupe is 

 charged with a valuable oil, which is obtained by subjecting the 

 fruit to heavy pressure. In the manufacture of soap and for 

 culinary purposes olive oil is unrivalled. 



The American olive (Olea Americana) bears edible drupes, as 

 is also the case with many exotic species. The most celebrated 

 of these is the Chinese olive (Oleafragrans), the flowers of which 

 are mixed by the Chinese with the leaves of their tea. 



LESSONS IN ARITHMETIC. XXXV. 



SIMPLE INTEEEST. 



4. WHEN money is lent, money is paid to the lender for the 

 use of it. The sum lent is called the principal, the money paid 

 for the loan is called the interest. The sum paid for the use 

 of the principal ought evidently to depend upon the time during 

 which the borrower has the use of it. Interest is therefore 

 generally paid at so much per cent, per annum; that ^is, for 

 ihe use of every .100 of principal, so much is paid for its use 

 during one year. 



The principal and interest upon it added together constitute 

 the amount. 



If the borrower pays the interest to the lender at the expira- 

 tion of every year (or as soon as, according to the agreement, 

 it becomes due), he will evidently have to pay the same sum 

 each year. But if he omit to do this, and retain it until he 

 returns the principal, he will, year by year, keep in his possession 

 a continually increasing sum belonging to the lender, upon 

 which (if the agreement be so made) interest must be paid. 



In the first case the interest is said to be simple; in the 

 second, compound. 



5. To find the Merest upon a given sum for a given time at a 

 given rate per cent. 



The interest for one year upon any given sum is obtained 

 (see Art. 2 (1) in preceding lesson, page 362) by multiplying by 

 the rate per cent., and dividing by 100. 



The interest for one year having been found, the simple in- 

 terest for any number of years is obtained by multiplying the 

 one year's interest by the number of years. 



EXAMPLE I. Find the interest on ,780 10s. for 1 year at 

 5 per cent. The answer i s JL. 780;, or *l% i . 



40 ) 1561 ( 39 Os. 6d. Answer. 

 120 



361 

 360 



1 

 20 



20 



12 



240 



240 



