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THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE, 
[Mar. 4, 
purpose, a mixture of equal parts of hydrochloric acid of 
commerce and water should be used. Arrow-root com- 
ports itself in the same manner as Rice powder with the 
hydrochloric acid ; while Wheat starch resembles Potato 
starch in this respect. M. Marageau, as is known, has 
roposed hydrochloric acid as a means of detecting 
Potato starch in flour, by the strong smell of formic acid 
which it develops in contact with the acid ; but as the same 
effect is produced, in this respect, with Rice powder and 
Arrow-root as with Potato starch, the hydrochloric acid 
cannot be used in this way for detecting the admixture of 
these latter. Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. 
Soda produced in Cornwall,—The manufactory is at 
Bisso-bridge, near Carnon, and one of the materials is 
mundic, hitherto the refuse of the mines. The process is 
his : ic, -which is a bination of sulphur and 
iron mixed with a proportion of nitrate of soda, is fixed to 
retorts similar to those in a gas-work, but not closely 
shut up. The sulphurous and nitrous vapours are carried 
into a chamber lined with lead, as in the ordinary manu- 
facture of sulphuric acid, which it is the object of this 
part of the process to obtain. The weak sulphuric acid 
thus obtained is employed to decompose common salt, 
from which it expels the muriatic acid and forms a sul- 
phate of soda. This is decomposed by exposing it to a 
high temperature in contact with carbonaceous matter, 
and the result is a very impure soda, which is dissolved, 
purified, and placed in evaporating vessels to crystallize. 
The crystals are very fine and pure. Perhaps, however, 
the most valuable part of the process will be the manu- 
facture of sulphuric acid, the demand for which is 
enormous, and for which the vast quantities of sulphur 
imported from Sicily are chiefly used. It is understood 
that the value of the acid consumed annually is 50,0007, 
an immense sum, considering the cheapness of the article, 
but itis largely used in almost all manufactures.—Mark 
Lane Express. 
Chinese E.gg-Plant.—This bears a cylindrical and very 
long, white fruit, and is stated by M. M. Andibert to be 
an excellent variety, with more melting and less stringy 
flesh than any other kind. The fruit which has ripened 
upon plants at Paris has not, however, in our opinion, 
proved of better quality than that of several other sorts. — 
Bon Jardinier. 
THE NATURALIST’S CORNER.—No. X. 
(Continued from page 87.) 
33. The Myrile was with the ancients a very favourite 
pint and always expressive of triumph and joy: the 
ero wore it as a mark of victory ; the bridegroom on his 
bridal-day ; and friends presented each other with Myrtle 
garlands in the conviviality of the banquet. Venus is said 
to have been adorned with it when Paris decided in her 
favour the prize of beauty; and for this reason it was 
dee: odious to Juno and Minerva. It was probably 
from this cause that, when all other flowers and shrubs 
might be used in the festival of the Bona Dea, at Rome, 
Myrtle alone was excluded. Harmodius and Aristogiton, 
when they slew the Athenian tyrant, had their swords 
concealed beneath wreaths of Myrtle, of which incident, 
as recorded by Alczeus, Sir William Jones bas made a 
happy use in his poem to Liberty. 
34, A Naturalist, giving instructionsto a young traveller 
in South America, requested he would collect for him 
everything ugly in preference to the beautiful 3 and cer- 
tainly, were the same industry exercised in obtaining the 
least attractive of nature’s productions that now exists in 
procuring the most beautiful, our knowledge of natural 
history would become immensely enriched, and many 
connecting links in the genera and species more satisfac- 
torily accounted for. 
35. Sir Walter Raleigh, in his “ History of Guiana,” 
alludes to men ‘‘ whose heads do grow beneath their 
shoulders.”” In ‘“ Hakluytt’s Collection of Voyages,”” 
published in 1598, we find a nation “‘reported to have 
their eyes in their shoulders, and their mouths in the 
middle of their breasts; ” and as late as the time of Lin- 
neeus, a well-compacted story of men with tails found a 
place in that naturalist’s highly valuable work, the “Amoc- 
nitates Academice.”’ Such relations, doubtless, belong 
to a state of infrequent and imperfect intercourse with 
distant countries, just in the same way that the belief that 
the elephant had no joints in his legs, and the hyena no 
vertebree in his neck, could only be received before natural 
history was established as a science. 
36. Opinions of the Ancients respecting Animals,— 
Many of the notions of antiquity, with regard to the 
structure and habits of animals, were quite irrational. It 
was gravely maintained, for instance, that the elephant 
had no joints, and, being unable to lie down, slept leaning 
against a tree ; that the badger had the legs on one side 
shorter than those of the other; that the bear brought 
forth her cubs imperfectly formed, and licked them into 
shape ; that deer lived several hundred years; that the 
cameleon derived its support solely from the atmospheric 
air. These, and many other ‘fancies, proceeded either 
from a literal construction of metaphorical expressions, or 
a complete ignorance of the economy of nature with re- 
gard to the laws by which animal life is regulated. 
37. Wild Boar—Itwouldseem from the accounts ofan- 
cient authors, that the ravages of the wild boar were consi- 
dered as more formidable than those of the other savage 
animals. The conquest of the Erymanthian boar was 
be 
Ovid. 
38. In the heads of deer and antelopes there are cavi- 
ties embedded in a bony case, varying in size in different 
species of these animals. The French call them larmiers, 
believing them to be receptacles for tears, of which, the 
thinner part evaporating, a substance remains called 
larmes de cerf. ‘To this circumstance may be attributed 
the belief of the poets that the deer weeps. 
39. The Cameé often travels three or four days without 
water, drinking 50, 60, or even 100 pounds weight, 
when he has an opportunity; and the best camels for 
transport will sometimes endure a thirst of 10 or 12 days, 
though many of them perish under this privation. When 
we see what the man and the horse require in those 
arid countries, such a power in the camel must appear 
one of the most remarkable provisions of nature, 
Rebiehs. 
A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies. By 
James Backhouse. 8vo. Hamilton and Adams. pp. 560. 
Tu author of this work informs his readers that his 
Visit to Australia was undertaken solely for the purpose 
of discharging a religious duty; but that having been 
trained to habits of observation, he kept a Journal, in 
which records were made of the productions of the coun- 
tries visited, the state of the aborigines and of the emi- 
grant and prisoner population, &c. We have to do only 
with the Natural History, in whick the work is unusually 
rich. 
Mr. James Backhouse is a brother of the very respect- 
able nurserymen of that name, at York ; he was himself 
educated as a nurseryman; he always took great interest 
in Botany and other branches of Natural History ; and, 
moreover, his early pursuits brought him acquainted with 
the details of practical cultivation ; so that a better man 
could not have been easily found to report the facts con- 
nected with vegetation which came beneath his notice. 
Accordingly, we find at every step in the volume before 
us, useful or entertaining information upon such subjects. 
Van Diemen’s Land, or Tasmania, was first visited, 
then Flinders’s Island, Sydney, Norfolk Island, Moreton 
Bay, Port Philip, South Australia, King George’s Sound, 
and, finally, Swan River; concerning all which places 
there is an ample supply of valuable evidence, from 
which, notwithstanding the crowded state of our columns, 
we must snatch a few gleanings. 
Those who have their thoughts turned towards emigra- 
tion will be glad to know what manner of place is a log- 
house :—“ When a place is first occupied by a settler, a 
hut of the simplest kind is formed, often like a mere roof 
resting on the ground; and when other needful things 
ave been effected, one of upright logs is built, and co- 
vered with shingles. This is usually divided into two 
rooms ; one of which is fitted up with broad rough shelves, 
for sleeping-berths ; and the other, which has a square re- 
cess for a fire-place, built of stones, at the outer end, and 
continued into a rude chimney a little higher than the 
roof, is used for a cooking and sitting-room. The crevices 
between the logs either remain open, or are filled with 
wool or some other material. A square opening, closing 
with a shutter, admits light into each room, and short 
logs of wood or rude benches, serve for seats. Many fa- 
milies that have been brought up in England in respecta- 
ble circumstances, live for several years in a hut of this 
description, until they can find time and means to build 
themselves a better habitation; and a hut of this kind is 
generally to be seen contiguous to a better house, and is 
occupied by the male servants, who are mostly prisoners.” 
The following description of a bit of wild scenery in 
Van Diemen’s Land furnishes materials for a charming 
picture, the sketch for which is, indeed, supplied by a 
clever etching. 
“The brookthat supplies Hobart Town with water flows 
from Mount Wellington through a valley at the foot of 
the mountain. Here the bed of the brook is rocky, and 
so nearly fiat as scarcely to deserve the name of The Cas- 
cades, by which this place is called. - Many dead trees and 
branches lie across the brook, by the sides of which grows 
Drymophila cyanocarpa—a. plant, ,allied .to Solomion’s 
Seal, producing sky-blue:berries on:an elegantly three- 
branched, nodding top. « Dianella cwrulea—a sedgy plant 
—flourishes on the drier slopes :, this,:as well as Billar- 
diera longifiora—a climbing shrub, that, entwines itself 
among the bushes—was- now exhibiting , its viclet- 
coloured fruit. In damp places, by the side of the brook, 
a princely ¢ree-fern,. Cybotium Billardieri, emerged 
through the surrounding foliage. A multitude of other 
ferns, of large and small size, enriched the rocky margins 
of the stream, which I crossed upon the trunk of one of 
the prostrate giants of the forest, a Gum-tree of large di- 
mensions, which had been uprooted by some blast from 
the mountain ; and, in its fall, had subdued many of the 
neighbouring bushes, and made a way where otherwise 
the forest would have been i ible. On d a 
from this natural bridge, to examine a tree-fern, I found 
myself at the foot of one of their trunks, which was about 
5 feet in circumference and 10 in height. The lower part 
was a mass of protruding roots, and the upper part 
clothed with short remains of leaf-stalks, looking rovg 
and blackened: this was surmounted by dead leaves 
hanging down, and nearly obscuring the trunk from dis- 
tant view : above was the noble crest of fronds, or leaves, 
bling those of Aspleniwm Fili in form, but 
exceeding 11 feet in length, in various degrees of jnclina- 
tion between erect and horizontal, and of the tenderest 
green, rendered more delicate by the contrast with the 
dark verdure of the surrounding foliage. Atmy feet were 
several other ferns of large size, covering the ground, and 
which, through age and their favourable situation, had 
attained root-stocks a foot in height, crowned by circles 
of leaves three times that length. Other plants of tree- 
fern, at short distances, concealed from my view, by their 
spreading fronds, the foliage of the lofty evergreens that 
towered a hundred feet above them. The trunk of one of 
the tree-ferns was clothed with a T’richomanes and several 
species of Hi phy li I b ferns 
of great delicacy and beauty. Ona rocky bank adjoining, 
there were other ferns, with creeping roots, that threw up 
their bright green fronds at short distances from each 
other, decorating the ledges on which they grew. In the 
deepest recesses of this shade I could enjoy thé novel 
scene—ferns above, below, around—without fear of mo- 
lestation; no dangerous beasts of prey inhabiting this 
interesting island. The annexed etching will give the 
reader some idea of a tree-fern, many species of which 
exceed in beauty the stately palms of warmer climates.” 
Of the timber-trees of this part of the Australian colo- 
nies we have the following account :— 
“The timber about Macquarrie Harbour is very fine. 
Huon Pine, supposed to be a species of Dacrydium, 
which is much valued for ship-building and general pur- 
poses, abounds on the eastern side: the wood is closer 
grained and more durable than White American Pine, and 
has an aromatic smell. This tree attains to about 100 
feet in height, and 26 in circumference, and is of a pyra- 
midal form : the branches from the trunk are alittle below 
horizontal, and are clothed with numerous, slender, 
pendant, scaly branchlets, of lively green, serving the 
purpose of leaves, as in the Cypress and Arbor-vite. 
Celery-topped Pine—Thalamia asplenifolia—so called 
from the resemblance of a branch clothed with its dilated 
leaves, to the leaf of Celery, is well calculated for masts, 
Myrtle, allied to Beech, but with leaves more like Dwarf 
Birch, is suited for keels. Light-wood—Acacia Mela- 
noxylon—clothed with leaf-like spurious foliage, resem- 
bling the leaves of a Willow, is also fine timber, and its 
roots make beautiful veneering. It derives this name 
from swimming in water, while the other woods of V. D. 
Land, except the pines, generally sink; in some parts of 
the colony it is called black-wood, on account of its dark 
colour. Other timber-trees are known here by the names 
of Pink-wood, Carpodontos lucida; Hard-wood, a species 
of Olea ; Sassafras, Atherosperma moschata ; Stinkwood, 
Zieria arborescens, &c. Forest Tea Tree, a species of 
Leptospermum, is valued for fuel ; some crooked portions 
of its trunk are finely veined, and well adapted for fancy- 
work. The black substance forming part of the stems of 
tree-ferns, is used for reeding, in inlaying, for which pur- 
pose it is superior to Ebony. Respectable hats have been 
manufactured from the shavings of some species of 
Acacia, as well as from broad-l 1 sedges, Lepidosy 
gladiata, the leaves being first boiled and bleached.” 
When on Flinders’s Island, Mr. Backhouse found the 
Grass-trees in great perfection, To a drawing of them is 
added the following description :—‘‘ We visited the Grass- 
tree plains that extend toward the east coast. The soil is 
sandy and poor, and clothed with thin rigid herbage, and 
scattered, low Gum-teees, low scrub, and large Grass- 
trees, Xanthorrhea australis 2 Some of the last are from 
five to seven feet high, and as many in circumference ; 
they have leaves three to four feet long, and flower-spikes 
five to ten feet high, thickly clothed with hard scales, and 
small, white, star-like flowers, except for about one and a 
half feet at the base, which is bare. All the trunks are 
charred from the burning off of the scrub. Abundance of 
red resin, capable of being used in the manufacture of 
sealing: an polish, is exuded by them. ‘This 
substance fills up the places left by the decay of the flower- 
stems of former years, and by injuries ; it is also lodged 
abundantly around the base of the trunk, which is thus 
defended from an excess of moisture. ‘The blanched base 
of the eaves, which our swarthy companion obtained for 
us, by beating off the head of a Grass-tree that had not 
thrown up a flower-stem, is pleasant eating, and has a 
nutty flavour.” 4 
In etchings of wild scenery Mr. Backhouse excels ; 
among other things, he has given a view of the trees in 
Norfolk Island, which is worthy of the Garden of Eden. 
mong them is a kind of Palm Tree, resembling the Cab- 
bage Palm of the West Indies. 
“In the woody gullies, the Norfolk Island Cabbage- 
tree, Areca sapida, abounds. It is a handsome palm, 
With a trunk about twenty feet in height, and from one 
and a half to two feet in circumference, green and smooth, 
with annular scars, left by the fallen leaves. The leaves or 
ronds form a princely crest, at the top of this elegant 
column ; they are pectinate, or formed like a feather, and 
are Sometimes nineteen feet in length; they vary from 
nine to fifteen in number. ‘The apex of the trunk is in- 
closed in the sheathing bases of the leaf-stalks, along 
with the flower-buds and young leaves. When the leaves 
fall they discover double compressed sheaths, pointed at 
the Upper extremity, which split open indiscriminately, on 
€ upper or under side, and fall off, leaving a branched 
Spadix, or flower-stem, which is the colour of ivory, and 
attached by a broad base to the trunk. The flowers are 
produced upon this spadix: they are very small, and are 
Succeeded by round seeds, red externally, but white, and as 
ard as horn, internally. As the seeds advance toward 
maturity, the spadix becomes green. The young, unfolded 
leaves of this Cabbage-tree rise perpendicularly in the 
centre of the crest. In this state, they are used for 
making brooms ; those still unprotruded, and remaining 
inclosed within the sheaths of the older leaves, form a 
white mass, as thick as a man’s arm; they are eaten raw, 
boiled, or pickled. In a raw state they taste like a nut, 
and boiled, they resemble artichoke bottoms. ‘The seeds 
furnish food for the Wood-quest, a large species of pigeon, 
which has a bronzed head and breast, andis white under- 
Neath, and principally slate-coloured on the back and 
wings. This bird is so unconscious of danger, as to sit 
till taken by a noose at the end of a stick; when one is 
shot, another will sometimes remain on the same bough, 
till itself also is fired at. We measured a Norfolk Island 
Pine, twenty-three feet, and another twenty-seven 
