164 



Secretary forwarded to the Eoyal Society Signor Goyzueta's 

 letter with an inquiry, " Whether the plant referred to existed 

 in the Society's Gardens, and whether it was considered desir- 

 able to attempt its cultivation for economic purposes?" This 

 being referred to the Superintendent of the Gardens, Mr. 

 Abbott reports that Typha latifolia is not to be found in the 

 Society's Gardens, nor, he believes, in any of the colonies ; but 

 " that"^ T. angustifolia is abundant in most of the Tasmanian 

 marshes, and it is probable that it might be utilised for the 

 same purposes as the other species." On the second point, Mr. 

 Abbott has great doubt whether the introduction and culti- 

 vation of this plant would be profitable ; and suggests that 

 " attention should be first directed to the species to be found 

 naturally in the island, especially as even this is by some 

 botanists held to be merely a variety." 



While yielding assent to the sensible proposition that we 

 should not overlook the species to be found indigenous in 

 Tasmania, and testing its utility, still we should not forego 

 the opportunity which seems to be presented to us of pro- 

 curing for acclimatisation the distinctive plant to which is 

 assigned the special qualities set forth. Whether the intro- 

 duction and cultivation of the right plant should be profitable 

 or not, there are much higher than pecuniary considerations 

 involved in its favour. 



The many lamentable disasters at sea and deplorable 

 shipwrecks, which from time to time cause a thrill of horror like 

 an electric shock to pervade the community, demand the 

 adoption of every possible precaution against such dire 

 calamities ; and, simple as this remedy appears, it may yet be 

 the means of snatching many a valuable human life from 

 otherwise inevitable destruction. 



Loudon, in his Encyclopaedia of Gardening, describes three 

 species of Typha, upon the authority of Willdenow, viz., T. 

 latifolia, T. minor, and T. angustifolia, or Greater, Dwarf, or 

 Lesser Cat's Tail ; the generic name is taken from tu(^os, a 

 marsh, in which all the species naturally grow. T. latifolia 

 he describes as one of the handsomest aquatics of the reed 

 kind ; its leaves are of a bluish colour, an inch in width, and 

 3ft. long. The pollen of the flower is very abundant, and a 

 light being applied to it, a flash of fire is produced. Haller 

 says that the roots are eaten in salad, that cattle eat the leaves, 

 and that the downy seeds serve for stufl&ng pillows. The 

 leaves are sometimes used by coopers, and introduced between 

 the staves of their casks ; and they are frequently used for 

 making mats, baskets, chair-bottoms, and sometimes for 

 thatch. EubenS; and other Italian painters after him, have 

 put it into the hands of our Saviour as a sceptre when He was 

 saluted as a king in mockery by Herod's soldiers. The plant, 



