
BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 277 
us to corroborate our view. Again, Dr. Stéckhardt appears to 
advocate the application of farmyard dung in the state of com- 
post, z.e. thoroughly decomposed. In our younger days the far- 
mers carried all their manure allotted for the turnip crop on the 
field, and allowed or caused it to ferment and decompose; but 
as they had always more land than dressing for it, they took re- 
cent droppings from the farmyard, litter and all, and used this 
for the last sowings. These last sowings, raised on recent, un- 
decomposed littery dung, were the most productive in turnip 
generally, in barley (the succeeding crop) always. The following 
quotation from our author we especially urge upon the attention 
of our country friends (p. 74) :—‘‘Drainings. A farmer who does 
not carefully collect and preserve the urine of his house and live- 
stock acts like a miner who throws away dull, rich silver ore, be- 
cause it does not shine like white silver. A farmer who buys 
guano, bone-dust, or other artificial manures, but who does not 
look carefully after his drainings, is an extravagant farmer, for 
he brings the same thing into his yard at great cost which he 
might have for nothing if he did not suffer it to flow or evaporate 
uselessly away from the same.” We need not say that we cordi- 
ally assent to this; we thank the Doctor for placing the subject 
so prominently and forcibly before us, and we hope it will be 
carefully read by the agriculturist. 
BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. 
Monxk’s-HooD, Aconitum Napellus.—A melancholy, accidental, and 
fatal case of poisoning has but recently happened in Dingwall, Ross-shire, 
and has been published in all our newspapers: another sad example 
added to the many on record of the lamentable effects consequent on the 
very prevalent ignorance of common things. Surely it is high time that 
the schoolmaster were despatched on his mission of enlightening the masses 
with some knowledge of botany, a science which few know even by name, 
and scarcely one in a thousand can distinguish between a noxious and a 
salutiferous herb. In the recent sad occurrence all were alike ignorant, 
from the kitchen-boy to the master of the house, the provost of that an- 
cient borough; the guests appear to have been as deficient in this useful 
knowledge as the domestics. It does not need great perspicacity to dis- 
tinguish Horseradish from Monk’s-hood: a very small portion of botani- 
cal science will be amply sufficient for this purpose; yet the absence of 
this little modicum of knowledge may be productive of tragical conse- 
quences. 
