BOTAN1&. 145 



It* native name. 



If it be used as food, in medicine, or in the arts ; 

 and if its history, and the properties attributed to 

 it, offer any remarkable peculiarities. 



We are particularly desirous of having notes on 

 the vegetable poisons with which the natives infect 

 their arrows, and the manner of gathering and pre- 

 paring them. 



To be certain of the maturity of seeds, we must 

 gather them when they easily separate from the 

 plant. In several instances, we can take the branch 

 which bears them, that those which are not perfectly 

 ripe may become so. 



The bags containing the grains, well dried, ought 

 to be put into a case covered with pitch, that they 

 may be protected from damp, insects, and mice. * 



The oily grains soonest lose their germinating 

 faculty. The seeds of tea, coffee, the glands of 

 most of the oaks are of this kind. These seedb 

 should be put into sandy earth ; we put two inches 

 of it at the bottom of a box, and we range the 

 grains in this earth at distances equal to their size ; 

 we cover them with about an inch of earth, in which 

 we put a fresh layer of seeds, and proceed in this 

 way until we are within a foot of the top of the box ; 



* M. de Candolle recommended me to pack all seeds, col- 

 lected in a moist country or season, in charcoal. Honey ii 

 also said to be a good preservative. 



H 



