202 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Septembek 1, 1898. 



tropical climates, as, for instance, in Russia, Egypt, 

 India, Holland, England, and the United States. Enor- 

 mous quantities of linseed are imported from Bussia and 

 India. 



In tbis country the flax culture has been declining for 

 many years, though English-grown linseed is usually con- 

 sidered the best quality. The principal constituents of 

 linseed is a fixed oil, which it contains to the extent of 

 one-third of its weight, and a quantity of mucilage which 

 is contained in the testa. The oil is expressed and forms 

 the well-known linseed oil of commerce, so largely used for 

 mixing with paints, as well as for various other purposes, 

 and the mucilage causes the seeds to be valuable in the 

 preparation of linseed tea — a well-known demulcent drink 

 used in inflammatory conditions of the mucous membrane. 

 The imports of linseed during the year 1807 amounted to 

 one million, nine hundred and eight thousand, sis hundred 

 and twenty-eight quarters, the value of which was two 

 million, nine hundred and eighty-eight thousand, five 

 hundred and three pounds. Though this is a considerable 

 sum derived from one species of plant, it is not the largest 

 item in the total value of the flax plant, for besides linseed, 

 the flax fibre obtained from the stem shows a still greater 

 money value; for during the same year, 1897, tlax in its 

 various stages of preparation was imported to the extent of 

 ninety-eight thousand, eight hundred and two tons, of the 

 value of three millions, two hundred and three thousand, one 

 hundred and eighty-four pounds. Flax is so well known that 

 it is unnecessary to say more of it than that it is the cleaned 

 fibre of this slender- stemmed plant, the value of which as a 

 textile has been known from the very earliest periods, and 

 continues to the present day, for it is the strongest and 

 best vegetable fibre known capable of adaptation for the 

 finest fabrics, as delicate muslins, and the coarsest, as 

 tarpaulins, and, notwithstanding the introduction and 

 adaptation of numerous vegetable fibres in recent years, flax 

 still maintains its superiority. 



Another important plant of the Linacest which has 

 come much to the fore in recent years is ErythroxyUm 

 Coca, from the leaves of which is prepared the well- 

 known Cocaine of the medical profession. The plant is 

 a small shrub, two to four feet high, cultivated to a very 

 large extent in the Andes of Peru, and in Bolivia and 

 Columbia, also in parts of Brazil, Argentina, etc. It is 

 considered to be a native of some of these countries, 

 though it is unknown in an actual wild state. It has 

 long been in use by the natives, who chew the leaves with 

 a little unslaked lime for the purpose of lessening the 

 desire for food, and enabling the chewer to undergo a large 

 amount of bodily exertion without fatigue. For this 

 reason it is a common practice to carry the coca leaves 

 about with them, together with a small gourd for holding 

 the lime. In gathering the leaves much care is exercised 

 by the people so as to ensure their absolute dryness, and 

 not to break them. In Peru, the plants begin to yield the 

 first crop of leaves in three years after planting, and in 

 some favoured localities two or three crops are obtained in 

 one year. The largest and most mature leaves are said to 

 contain the largest amount of cocaine. The leaves have an 

 agreeable and somewhat aromatic smell. Cocaine is now 

 very largely used as a local anesthetic, and in the prepara- 

 tion of coca wine. Under cultivation, several variations 

 from the specific type have arisen. 



The announcement of the retirement of Sir William 

 Flower from the Directorship of the Natural History 

 Museum at South Kensington was received with great 

 regret. We learn that Prof. E. Ray Lankester has been 

 appointed to succeed Sir William Flower. 



BRITISH 



ORNITHOLOGICAI .^ 



^ <^ i'— ■ 

 • NOTES. 



Conducted by Habby F. Witherby, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 



Late Arrival ok Spring Migrants near Exeter. — 

 The current year has, so far, proved a most uninteresting 

 one from an ornithological point of view in this neighbour- 

 hood. It has been distinguished by the great scarcity of 

 most of our summer migrants, and the very late appearance 

 of some of them. Although daily on the look-out for Chiff- 

 chaffs and Willow Warblers, I did not see any till the 7th 

 June, when Blackcaps, Willow Warblers, Chiff-chaflfs, 

 Garden Warblers and Spotted Flycatchers all suddenly 

 appeared here, and were seen for a few days. Since then 

 I have noticed very few of them. No Blackcaps visited 

 the ripe berries of the ivy in April, as usual, and very 

 few have frequented the currant bushes. Whitethroats 

 were first seen on June 8th and 9th. Redstarts did not 

 show until June loth, but at the end of the month they 

 were numerous at Chagford. Only one Sedge Warbler has 

 been seen amongst the reeds here, and that was on the 

 10th of June. Common Sandpipers were first seen on 

 April 15th, when two were on the river, and many on 

 21st of the month. At the end of June, I saw a great 

 many on Dartmoor about the upper part of the 

 North Teign, where they nest. The first return from the 

 breeding grounds was on July 29th. The Cuckoo was 

 heard on the llth and 19th April, and afterwards became 

 very numerous. Swallows have been scarce. The first 

 was reported from the north of the county, near P>arnstaple, 

 about the 10th April, but I saw none until the 2l8t of the 

 month, when I observed some in the streets of Topsham. 

 A few Sand Martins were seen flying over the Exe on 

 April 2.5th. Although the Rev. M. A. Mathew observed 

 a House j\Iartin at Buckland Dinham, in Somersetshire, 

 on April 26th, I failed to see any here until June 19th, 

 and there were very few at Chagford (where this species 

 is usually very numerous) at the end of the month. It is 

 certainly much less abundant in South Devon than it has 

 been in most years. I noticed two Swifts on May 2nd, 

 apparently coming from the north-east, but there were 

 very few about until the 20thof the month, when numbers 

 arrived from a southerly direction. On June the 

 9th Mr. Mathew saw four Turtle Doves on the fore- 

 shore of the Exe estuary below Lympstone. None 

 now visit our marsh, where a small flock used formerly to 

 feed, in July and August, on the seeds of the plants growing 

 on the salt mud. We also saw a Red-backed Shrike near 

 Budleigh Salterton. I imagine that the cold at the end of 

 March and beginning of April, and the prevalence of cold 

 blustering westerly winds at the migration time, prevented 

 the arrival of our spring migrants by the ordinary route 

 across the Channel, and those that reached us probably 

 mostly came across England from the East. Hence they 

 were noticed earlier in Somersetshire than about Exeter. 

 — W. S. M. D'Urban, Newport House, near Exeter. 



