846 Teaksactioxs of the American Institute. 



an aromatic odor. The portion passing off between lYO degrees 

 and 180 degrees C, lias the same composition as caprylic alcohol, 

 which is fonnd in castor oil. The plant yielding purgueira was 

 described by Adamson more than a century ago, under the name of 

 Curcas jpnrgans. It abounds in some portions of Africa and in the 

 Cape de Yerde islands. 



Kew and Gigantic Plant. 

 The London Builder, ot March 6, states that within the last few 

 days living specimens have been forwarded to England, from Nica- 

 ragua, of one of the most gigantic plants of the vegetable kingdom. 

 It is closely alb ed to the Arums (or "Lords and Ladies") of the 

 hedges, and until the present time has wholly escaped the notice of 

 traveling botanists. It produces but one leaf, nearly fourteen feet 

 in length, supported by a stalk ten feet long. The stem of the 

 flower is a foot in circumference, the spathe or flower is two feet 

 long, purplish blue in color, with a powerful carrion-like odor. As 

 this remarkable feature of Aroidse is quite new to science, it has not 

 yet received a name. A correspondent of The Builder describes the 

 Arum found on the Carapagna of Rome which bears deeply serrated 

 leaves about the size of the human hand, but in other respects 

 resembles the Nicaraguan plant. It has a purple spathe about 

 eighteen inches in length and the flower has the same repulsive odor. 



Fibrin of Blood. * 

 Messrs. Bechamp and Estor maintain that the so-called fibrin of 

 blood is only a kind of membrane formed by the mycrozymas, asso- 

 ciated with a substance secreted by them by means of the alburae- 

 noid substance of the blood. 



Sun Dials. 



A correspondent of The Builder says whoever can project the 

 simplest constructions the carpenter requires in solid geometry, those 

 for a high rafter, for instance, may readily construct any kind of sun 

 dial whatever, for any latitude, on being simply informed of these 

 two invariable rules : 



1. The shadow casting edge is a straight line, and must always, 

 everywhere and in whatever form of dial, be parallel to the earth's 

 axis. Consequently all the true gnomons are parallel; with ojie 

 varying from their direction no true dial could be made, but its time 

 would vary every day in the year. 



