No. 133.] 337 



ami St. Johii's Bread. Singers are said to chew this fruit to im- 

 prove their voices. The seeds of the carot ti'ee are said to be the 

 original Carat Weights of Jeweler. 



APOCYNACE^, OR DOGBANES. 



Abundant in the hot parts of Asia ; some in the American tro- 

 pics — but by no means in Africa. They are generally very beauti- 

 ful plants, with large, gay, showy colored flowers — in many cases 

 poisonous. One of them, the Xaughinia Venenifera, bears nuts 

 about the size of the almond, one of which will destroy twenty 

 men. It was used in the island of Madagascar as an ordeal. 



The common Oleander belongs to this class, and is a formidable 

 poison — little suspected. 



LOGANIACEiE. 



Are either tropical, or near the tropics. A few species are 

 found in New Holland and in America. The .Wux Fo7?iica is the 

 celebrated fruit. This fatal drug consists of the seeds of the Stry- 

 chnos Nux Vomica, an Indian tree with small greenish white 

 flowers, ribbed leaves, and a beautiful orange colored fruit, round, 

 size of a small apple, has a brittle shell over it, and a white gel- 

 atinous pulp. 



Revae HorticolC; Paris, Sept., 1853. 



Artichoke — Cynara Scolymus — The culture of artichokes has 

 been long considered by many people as a luxury fitted only for 

 the tables of the rich. This is so, generally ; but in our great 

 centres of population it has become in a considerable degree a dish 

 for our working classes. During the whole of the artichoke sea- 

 son, the hucksters sell them out of their little hand carts all over 

 Paris, from sunrise to sunset. They cut them early in the morn- 

 ing and carry them to the markets, where people go to buy them 

 raw. In the morning they are generally sold (ready cooked) by 

 ■vromen who carry them about for sale, on aflat flasket (eyentaire) 

 at about one or two cents apiece, (5 to 10 centimes, a centime 

 being 1-lOUth of a franc) according to their size. Working peo- 

 ple consume a great many of them daily, because it is one of the 

 I easiest vegetables to cook. It agrees well with almost everybody, 



[Assembly No. 133.] 22 



