426 General J^otices. 



twelve hours this commotion ceases, and in the space of seven to four- 

 teen days (varying according to the diameter of the wood,) the change 

 is complete, so that, as the corrosive sublimate is not an expensive arti- 

 cle, the albumen may be converted into an indecomposible substance at 

 a very moderate rate." 



Discovery of a new floiver. — At a meeting of the Botanical Societ}"-, 

 held at London, on the 8th of September, a communication from Mr. 

 Schomburgh was read, dated New Amsterdam, Berbice, May 11, an- 

 nouncing his discovery of a new plant allied to the water lily, in the 

 River Berbice, which has been named Victoria reginae, Ijy ])ermissioTiof 

 Her Majesty. According to Mr. Schomburgh's descri|)tion it is a mag- 

 nificent production, having a flower fifteen inches in diameter, and gi- 

 gantic leaves, from five to six and a half feet in diameter. The leaf is 

 salver shaped, with a broad rim five and a half inches high; light green 

 above and a vivid crimson below. The flower consists of many hun- 

 dred petals, passing in alternate tints from pure white to the brightest 

 pink and rose. To enhance its beauty, it is sweet scented. The sur- 

 face of the water was covered with these splendid plants. {Newspaper.) 

 [We know not what reliance to place upon this report, as we have seen 

 no account of it in our London botanical or floricultural ])eriodicals, but 

 we give it as we found it, going the rounds of the newspapers. — Cond. 



Y aniWa. planifblia. — The Vanilla planifolia of Andrews, cultivated 

 at the botanical garden of Liege, has produced more than sixty flowers, 

 of which fifty-four were artificially fecundated. The result was, the 

 production of as many fruit from six to seven inches long, of an excel- 

 lent odor, sweet, and of an agreeable taste. The perfume and the aro- 

 ma are more powerful than the vanilla of commerce. 



Three pounds of vanilla have been obtained by this process, which is 

 due to the care and culture of Mr. Charles Morren, professor of botany 

 at the university of Leige, and who will shortly publish a treatise on 

 the subject. 



A branch of the ripe fruit of the Vanilla planifolia was exhibited at 

 the Casino, at Gand, during the late exhibition of flowers, and a silver 

 medal was unanimously adjudged to Mr. Morren for the same. {John 

 Maddison, Ghent, March 18, 1837. — Hart. Jour.) 



Sago. — This well known nutritious substance is a farinaceous pithy 

 matter, extrncted from the inside of the trunk of a tree, which grows 

 spontaneouslv, and without the least culture, in the Molucca, and other 

 isles of the Indian Ocean, as well as throughout the south-east of Asia 

 generally. Being highly nutritive, and the tree which furnishes it flour- 

 ishing in a climate which disposes the human body to inaction, it is no 

 wonder that in manj' places it should becojne the general food of the 

 population — to the neglect of the cultivation of grain and other ])lants, 

 which require some amount of exertion. The sago, or lihley tree, as it 

 is called by the natives, is of very peculiar growth; the trunk being 

 formed of the bases of the leaves; growing at first verj' slowly; and be- 

 ing covered with thorns or spines: so soon, hov.ever, as the skin is well 

 formed, the growth of the tree proceeds with great rapidity, so that it 

 speedily attains its full height of thirty feet, with a girth of five or six, 

 and losing at this stage its thorny accompaniments. Like the cocoanut 

 tree, it has no distinct bark that can be peeled off". The trunk is a hard, 

 ligneous tube or cylinder, about two inches thick; the internal area of 

 whii;h is filled with a farinaceous pith, intermixed with numerous longi- 

 tudinal fibres. The maturity of the tree is ascertained by the transpi- 

 ration of a whitish dust through the pores of the leaves; on the appear- 

 ance of which the trunk is felled near to the ground. AVhen felled, it 

 is cut into lengths of five or six feet; — a part of the wood is then sliced 

 offj and the workmen, coming to the pith, cut across the longitudinal 



