VISITING THE GARDENS 193 



hardily in deserts to furnish black draughts once 

 too much imported into British nurseries ; the 

 castor-oil plant, that bears such big clumps of 

 flowers blooming under a tropical sun " too fairly 

 for so foul effect " ; the precious quinine, which 

 by bold adventurers was stolen from Peruvian 

 monopoly to thrive on Indian hills and elsewhere. 

 Passing by such exhibits with a shudder, Masters 

 Sandford and Merton will be glad to learn how 

 many doctors nowadays do not much dissent 

 from O. W. Holmes's dictum that if all drugs, 

 except quinine and a few other specifics, were at 

 the bottom of the sea, it would be so much the 

 better for human health. 



Young monkeys, still strong in jaw and 

 gastric juice, will pay more attention to the 

 different kinds of nuts, too reckless dealings with 

 which has often caused nauseous draughts to be 

 " exhibited " ; and they may be surprised to 

 learn how the triangular Brazil nuts of our shops 

 are not independent growths, but neatly packed 

 in parcels of two dozen or so in a shell like a 

 cannon ball, so hard and heavy as to crack a 

 man's skull on which it should fall. The youth 

 of this generation will not be so much interested 

 as an old fogey is in carob pods, believed to be 



