April 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



73 



Founded in i88i by RICHARD A. PROCTOR. 



LONDON: APRIL 1, 1898. 



CONTENTS. 



Economic Botany. B_v John E. Jackson, a.i.s., etc. 



The Structure of Ireland. Bv Grentille A. J. Cole, 



il.B.I.A., F.G.S. (Illustrated) 



The Sea-Otter and its Extermination. By R. LyuEEKEit, 



B.A., F.R.S. {Illustrated) 

 British Ornithological Notes. Conducted by Habet F. 



WiTHEEBT, F.Z.3., M.B.O.U 



Letters :— David Flanert ; "W. E. Beslet 



British Bees. — II. By Feed. Exoce, f.l.s., f.b.s., etc. 

 [Illustrated) ... " 



In the Moon s Northern Regions. By Arthur Mee, 

 F.B.A.s. (Plate) ' 



Notices of Books 



Short Notices 



Books Ebceited 



Stars having Large Proper Motion. By E. C. Pickebing 

 The Level of Sunspots. By the Rev. Abthue East. 



(Illustrated) 



The Evolution of the Venom-Fang. By Lioxel Jeetis. 



(Illustrated) ' 



Notes on Comets and Meteors. By W. F. Denkino, 



F.E.A.S. ... 



The Face of the Sky for April. By Hekbeet Sadlbb, 



F.B.A.s 



Chess Column. By C. D. Locock, b.a 



PAGS 



73 



ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



By John R. .Jackson, a.l.s., etc., Ka'per af the Museums, 

 Roi/al (i aniens, Keiv. 



IN our introductory remarks on this subject (Knowledge, 

 February, 1898) we drew attention to the fact that 

 the Kew Museums from their foundation were 

 unique in their character, and at the present time 

 are far and away the most important institutions of 

 the kind throughout the world. It will be best, therefore, 

 to take these collections as the basis of our remarks in 

 succeeding papers, following the arrangement of the natural 

 orders as there adopted, which is based on the system of 

 the Geiiern I'lantarum of Bentham and Hooker. By this 

 means we shall be able to prove what we said in our intro- 

 ductory remarks on the distinct economic character of 

 certain natural orders and their importance over others in 

 supplying the wants of man. In treating our subject in a 

 scientific rather than a commercial manner, the advantages 

 will be that those of our readers to whom the Kew Museums 

 are available will have object lessons before them which 

 they will find no difficulty in applying to their own indi- 



vidual requirements, and occurring in the same sequence 

 as here set down. Other advantages will be that the habits 

 of the plants constituting each natural order will be briefly 

 stated, as well as their geographical distribution. Of 

 necessity these descriptions must be brief, and only the 

 principal products can receive treatment ; more attention, 

 of course, being given to those of greater than those of 

 lesser commercial value. 



Ranunculace.e. — The type of this order is the buttercup. 

 The plants which form the group are herbaceous. Very 

 few have woody stems. They have a wide geographical 

 range, but are more abundant in cool climates. Their 

 general properties are acrid and poisonous, which is well 

 exemplified in the common aconite or monkshood(.^co)ij(M»i 

 iKipellus L.). The order is chiefly valued for its medicinal 

 products, the principal of which is the aconite just referred 

 to. It is a perennial plant found in sub-Alpine pastures, 

 and damp, shady places in hilly districts, particularly in 

 the Alpine chains of Europe, as well as in the Himalayan 

 range, where it extends from ten thousand feet elevation 

 up to the limit of vegetation. Though it occurs in some 

 counties of England and Wales, it is scarcely considered 

 a native. 



The aconite is valued economically both for the rhizome, 

 or rootstock, and for the leaves, both of which contain the 

 alkaloid neon i tine, though the rhizomes are said to be six 

 times stronger than the leaves. The rootstock is moat 

 active in the winter and early spring, and for medicinal 

 purposes should be collected at those periods. The fresh 

 rhizome varies in size from three to sis inches long, broad 

 at one end, and tapering to a fine point. It descends 

 perpendicularly into the ground, and gives off numerous 

 rootlets. It has an earthy odour, and a taste which is 

 slightly bitter at first, but which is succeeded in a few 

 minutes by a burning sensation, and a tim,'ling or numb- 

 ness in the lips, cheeks, or tongue. The market is mostly 

 supplied with aconite root from the wild plants, but some 

 of the dried root is imported from Germany. Though 

 aconitine is one of the most virulent poisons known, it is 

 an extremely valuable medicine. Tincture of aconite 

 is much used for outward application to allay pain in 

 rheumatic and similar affections. The accidents that 

 sometimes occur from mistaking aconite root for horse- 

 radish can only happen at the time when the plants are 

 leafless, as the foliage of the two plants is very distinct ; 

 and even then the tapering and dark-coloured root of 

 the aconite is quite different in appearance to the long, 

 cylindrical light-coloured root of the horseradish. Several 

 other plants belonging to this order, natives chiefly 

 of America and India, furnish useful medicines. The 

 small black seeds known as fennel-flower seeds are also 

 the produce of a ranunculaceous plant — Xinilla satira, an 

 annual of the South of Europe. Levant, Egypt, etc. The 

 common name is derived from the fennel-like odour the 

 seeds have when fresh. In the East they are used as a 

 carminative medicine and for flavouring curries, as well as 

 to keep insects from woollen cloths. In France they are 

 used as a spice. 



Magnoliace.e. — Trees or shrubs, many of them with 

 handsome and fragrant flowers, found in North America, 

 India, China, and .Japan. They possess bitter tonic and 

 aromatic properties. The woods are of a light colour, even 

 grained and easily cut. The two most important economic 

 plants of the order are the star anise and the American 

 tulip tree or white wood. The first, lUicium eerum, is a 

 tree about twenty feet high, the fruits of which are com- 

 posed of several carpels, and when fully ripe and dry they 

 open and expand in the form of a star ; hence the common 

 name. The whole fruit has a most agreeable aromatic 



