324 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



" Let out the coach instantly, for I have an order to that effect." 

 " Oh, sir, 'tis well that you have the keys of the Port and must 

 answer for it," replied the soldier, and pulled back the ponderous gate 

 in the arch between the towers. The moment the coach passed out, 

 a Highlander sprang in, and in the twilight, grasped the sentinel, and 

 wrested his musket from him. It was the chieftain of Lochiel ; and 

 immediately the whole Clan Cameron, 900 strong, with swords drawn 

 and banners displayed, all clad in their native tartan, marched up the 

 High-street with twelve pipers before them, making the lofty houses 

 ring, and awakening the terrified citizens with the stirring air of 



" We'll awa to Shirramuir, 

 And haud the Whigs in order." 



About mid-day, the main body of the Highland army, making a 

 circuit by the ancient Tower of Merchiston, inarched west by the 

 Grange Loan, a narrow road, between old walls and aged trees, and 

 thus avoiding the castle guns, arrived in the King's Park, where the 

 young Prince arrayed in the national garb, which displayed to advan- 

 tage his tall and hauJpome figure, and wearing on his left breast the 

 Order of the Thistle was received with acclamation by the people. 

 Surrounded by his Highland guard all veterans of Sheriffrnuir and 

 Glenshiel, men verging on eighty years of age, and distinguished by 

 snow-white beards and Lochaber axes the Prince approached the 

 great gate of the palace, and there he paused ; for, at that moment, a 

 twenty-four pound shot, fired from the castle, struck the front wall of 

 James V.'s Tower, near the window that lights the state apartments 

 of Queen Mary. It dislodged several stones, and they fell together 

 into tLe court. In this incident there was something so peculiarly 

 insulting to the descendant of the Stuarts when standing on the very 

 threshold of their desolate palace, that a simultaneous groan burst 

 from the spectators ; a shout of acclamation followed, and the Prince 

 again approached the gate, but again paused, and looked round him 

 irresolutely, for there was no Lord Keeper, no Earl Marischal, no 

 Great Chamberlain, no Master of the Household, to usher him into 

 ancient Holyrood, till a gentleman sprang from the crowd, raised his 

 hat, and drawing his dress-sword, led the way to the state apartments, 

 while another shout of applause burst from the people. In absence 

 of his father, the Prince was proclaimed Eegent of Britain by the 

 heralds, at the cross, around which Lochiel, with his Camerons, and 

 several ladies on horseback with drawn swords, acted as guard ; the 

 first for safety, the last for honour and enthusiasm. The Highlanders 

 stayed within their camp, or, when in the city, behaved themselves 

 with the utmost order and decorum; no outrages were committed, 

 and no brawls of any kind ensued. Memorials of the Castle of Edin- 

 burgh, pp. 225-228. 



LESSONS IN BOTANY. XXXIII. 



SECTION XC. LINAGES, OR FLAXWOETS. 



Characteristics : Sepals five or four, either free or joined at 

 the base, persistent ; petals five or four, hypogynous, contorted 

 in aestivation, caducous ; stamens slightly monadelphous, five 

 or four, frequently ten, of which the five external ones are 

 fertile, the remainder barren ; ovary four, five, or three-celled ; 

 cells bi-ovulate, each divided into two ; ovules pendent, reflexed; 

 styles three to five, filiform ; stiginaa capitular ; capsule sep- 

 ticidal ; seed dicotyledonous, exalbuminous ; stem herbaceous 

 or subligneous ; leaves simple without stipules ; flowers regular. 



This small family, composed of a few genera, is dispersed over 

 the temperate regions of the entire world. The common flax 

 (Linum usitatissitnum, Fig. 247) is indigenous to Southern 

 Europe and Northern Africa. In France and Ireland vast tracts 

 are devoted to its cultivation. The testa contains an abundant 

 mucilage, which confers on the seed its emollient properties. 

 The use of linseed meal as a poultice material is very familiar. 

 These seeds contain a fixed oil, obtainable by expression, and 

 employed in a great variety of useful operations ; it is especially 

 useful as a vehicle for mixing paint. It is naturally a drying 

 oil, and its drying property is further augmented by boiling 

 with oxide of lead. 



SECTION XCI. ZYGOPHYLLACE2E, OS BEAN CAPEES. 



Characteristics : Calyx free, five or four-partite ; petals 

 hypogynous, free, equal in number to the divisions of the calyx ; 

 imbricated in aestivation ; stamens double the number of the 

 petals; ovary pluri-locular ; ovule reflexed ; capsule loculicidal or 

 separating into shells ; seed dicotyledonous, either exalbuminous 

 or embryo embedded in a cartilaginous albumen; stem herba- 

 ceous or woody; leaves opposite, pinnate, furnished with stipules. 



The principal member of t'.iis natural family is the guaiacum 

 (Guaiacum ojficinale, Fig. 2-J8 250). It is a large West Indian 

 tree, the wood of which is exceedingly hard, and known by the 

 commercial name of lignum viice. 



SECTION XCII. EUTACE^E, OE EUEWOETS. 



Characteristics : Calyx four or five-partite ; petals equal in 

 number to the divisions of the calyx, inserted upon a hypogynous 

 or almost perigynous disc, ordinarily free ; stamens equal in 

 number to the petals, sometimes double the number ; ovaries 

 free or coherent to a variable extent ; ordinarily bi-ovulate ; 

 styles distinct at their base, coherent at their summit ; capsule 

 many-valved, having a smooth cartilaginous endocarp opening 

 by its own elasticity ; seed dicotyledonous ; stem ordinarily 

 ligneous ; leaves without stipules, or provided with two glands 

 at the base of each petiole. 



This order has been divided into two sub-orders, the Rutece 

 and the Diosmece. In the former the seeds contain albumen, 

 while the fruit has the sarcocarp and endocarp combined ; 

 but in the latter the seeds are exalbuminous, and when the fruit 

 is ripe the sarcocarp is separate from the endocarp. 



The Rutacecc are found in all parts of the world, the Rutecu 

 being chiefly found in the south part of the north temperate 

 zone, while the Diosmew are for the most part natives of South 

 Africa and Australia. Their properties are dependent on the 

 presence of a resin and a volatile oil, occasionally mingled with 

 a peculiar bitter principle : this is especially the case as regards 

 the Galipea trifoliata, a tree which grows in vast forests on 

 the banks of the Orinoco, and whose bark is known in com- 

 merce under the name of Angostura bark. The leaves of the 

 Barosma crenata, and other natives of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 are employed as a valuable medicine : they are known in com- 

 merce as buchu leaves. Many species of Rutacece are now cul- 

 tivated in Europe, among which the Lemonia spcctalilis, a native 

 of Cuba, and the dittany, or Dictamnus Fraxinella (Fig. 251), 

 are the most remarkable. The latter is indigenous to Germany, 

 and is noticeable for the large amount of inflammable gas which 

 it secretes, so that if in the evening of a hot day a flame be 

 caused to approach a mass of these plants, the combustible 

 atmosphere around them takes fire, the plants themselves re- 

 maining uninjured. 



SECTION XCIII. XANTHOXYLACEJE, OE XANTHOXYLS. 



Characteristics : Calyx free ; petals hypogynous, equal in 

 number to that of the divisions of the calyx ; convolute or im- 

 bricated in estivation ; caducous, rarely absent ; stamens 

 equal in number to the petals, or double the latter ; carpels 

 elevated on a stipes, free or coherent at their base, or sometimes 

 completely aggregated into a many-celled ovary, each containing 

 two or four reflex ovules ; fruit various ; seed dicotyledonous ; 

 embryo embedded in the axis of a fleshy albumen ; radicle 

 superior. 



The Xanilwxylacece are inhabitants of the tropical and sub- 

 tropical regions of America and Asia. They are all charac- 

 terised by pungent and aromatic properties. The fruit of the 

 Xantlwxylon piperitum, or pepper-like xanthoxylon, a native of 

 Japan, is used by the Japanese instead of pepper. It is sup- 

 posed to be an antidote against many poisons. 

 SECTION XCIV. MENISPEEMACEJE, OE MENISPEEMADS. 



Characteristics : Sepals free, caducous ; petals three, six, or 

 twelve, hypogynous, usually free, sometimes absent ; stamens 

 equal in number to the sepals, rarely more; filaments free, 

 sometimes monadelphous ; ovaries many, free, uni-ovulate ; 

 ovules curved ; fruit bacciform or coriaceous ; seed straight or 

 curved; embryo very large, slightly albuminous, or albumen 

 totally absent ; the stems of members of this natural order are 

 flexible, climbing ; leaves alternate, simple, without stipules ; 

 flowers ordinarily diclinous. 



The Menispermacece chiefly inhabit the intertropical regions 

 of Asia and Africa. The Colombo, or root of the hand-leaved 

 cocculus (Cocculus palmatus) , a member of this natural order, 

 a native of Eastern Africa, is much employed in medical prac- 

 tice as a tonic, as is also the Pareira Brava root (Cissampelos 

 Pareira), a native of the West Indies. The Cocculus Indicus of 

 the druggists' shops is the fruit of the Anamirta paniculata, a 

 native of tropical Asia, where it is much used as an agent for 

 stupefying fish. To eat the fish thus stupefied is, however, not 

 altogether free from danger. The active principle of Cocculus 

 Indicus is picrotoxine, a crystalline alkaloid body scarcely less 

 dangerous than strychnine. Many species of Menispcrmacew 

 are now cultivated in European gardens, amongst which t-ho 

 Canadian moonseed, or Menispermum Canadense (Fig. 252, 

 2^3), is most prominent. 



