88 THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 



ing the dates of commerce, are quite numerous in Flor- 

 ida; and at Cape Sable there are groups of royal 

 palms of matchless beauty, perhaps, the first on earth 

 through whose leaves the wires of the telegraph flashed 

 their mysterious messages. Plants which furnish -wax 

 are found even in the United States. Such is, for in- 

 stance, the Myrica cerifera of Louisiana, rising at times 

 to a height of twelve feet, which was the first of its kind 

 known in Europe, where the seed was imported and 

 raised in hot-houses. A variety is found in the Middle 

 States, Myrica, Pennsylvania, Carolinensis, which does 

 not grow above five feet high ; the leaves are broader 

 and stouter and the fruit is larger. Marshes and damp 

 and sandy spots on the sea-shore are its favorite homes. 

 A very fertile bush furnishes about seven pounds of 

 berries, which produce nearly two pounds of wax. 

 The latter is removed from the seeds by means of 

 boiling water, in which the berries are violently shaken 

 and bruised. Candles made from this vegetable wax 

 perfume the room ; they give a bright and clear light, 

 especially if, as is usually the case here, a little tallow 

 is added during the process. This wax myrtle, or can- 

 dle-berry myrtle, enlivens the landscape by the bright- 

 ness of its foliage, which is evergreen ; it perfumes 

 and purifies, by its balsamic exhalations, the insalu- 

 brious air of the marshes in the midst of which it 

 flourishes. 



We will close our remarks on palms by mention- 

 ing those of the Islands of the Seychelles, of which 

 Pyrard de Laval, in his narrative of a voyage to the 

 Maldives, says : " On the sea-coast is found a certain 



