Jan. 6, il 



NA rURE 



225 



His services to science were recognised by all the great 

 learned Societies, and he was a Foreign Member of the 

 Royal Astronomical Society of London. He was a man 

 of a singularly noble personal character, and his death is 

 deeply regretted by a wide circle of friends. 



THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION 

 (2ANADA.—'X\i\% section of the Exhibition will be 

 remembered chiefly for its agricultural machinery in 

 motion, its fur, and agricultural trophies, and its large 

 collection of furniture. The collection of fruits in the 

 agricultural trophy has probably never before been equalled 

 either in number, variety, or perfection of preservation, 

 the colours of the several fruits being extremely well 

 preserved in various solutions, such as dilute sulphurous 

 acid for the lighter coloured fruits or salicylic acid for the 

 darker ones. Besides these, however, there were numer- 

 ous e-\hibits which, though less imposing to the general 

 visitor, were of considerable interest, such, for instance, 

 as the collection of timbers, and manufactures therefrom, 

 photographs of American timber-trees, &c. The enormous 

 sizes of many of the American Coniferse were well illus- 

 trated by magnificent planks of such woods as the Douglas 

 tir [Psetidotstiga Douglasii), some sixteen feet high and 

 about ten feet in diameter, large slabs of hemlock spruce 

 {Tsiiga canadensis), also enormous logs of black walnut 

 [Juglans nigra), and many others. Perhaps the most 

 compact and interesting collection of timbers, however, 

 was that from New Brunswick, where the woods were 

 arranged so as to form a kind of design, the lower or 

 basal portion being formed of trunks of trees, with their 

 b.'irks remaining, about three feet high, over this were 

 arranged sections of the wood in frames composed of the 

 young branches with the bark on : and above these, again, 

 panels of the same wood as shown below, cut longi- 

 tudinally and with a cross section at the base, both 

 polished to show the grain or figure, and on the panel of 

 each wood was painted a very good representation of a 

 spray or branch of the plant itself Each specimen was 

 properly named, so that the whole thing was very com- 

 plete. The series of photographs before alluded to are 

 correct representations of the tree flora, each photograph 

 being framed with the wood of the tree illustrated. The 

 general use of the bark and wood of the cedar of British 

 Columbia {Thuja gigantea), for useful and ornamental 

 articles, was well shown in the exhibits of mats, native 

 head - dresses, masks cut from the solid wood and 

 grotesquely painted, spoons, whistles. 



Fiji. — Though the space occupied by these islands was 

 but small, the exhibits were of an interesting character, 

 including a fine set of natix'e timbers, for the most part 

 scientifically named, and including some large blocks of 

 Fijian sandalwood {Santaluin yasi), roots of the kava 

 {Piper niethystiaiin), w\\\c\\ is generally used in the Society 

 and South Sea Islands in the preparation of an intoxicating 

 beverage by chewing the root, ejecting the saliva into 

 large bowls, and then fermenting it ; or by pounding the 

 root between two stones, then putting it into a bow!, 

 pouring water upon it, kneading it, and afterwards strain- 

 ing it. The taste is said to be like that of soap-suds, but 

 a liking for it is easily acquired, and it is said to quench 

 the thirst better than any other beverage. A spirit pre- 

 pared from it in Germany was sold in the Exhibition under 

 the name of yagona or kava schnaps. This spirit, which 

 is something of the nature of a liqueur, is described as 

 having medicinal properties, and is recommended for its 

 remarkable soothing and stimulant effects, restoring 

 faded energies and exhausted nerve-power. Cocoa-nut 

 fibre and oil of course form large staples of produce in 

 Fiji, and were fully represented in the Exhibition, as well 

 as dilo nuts and oil {Calophylliim inopliylluin). Some 

 excellent samples of sugar, grown and manufactured in 



the islands, and tea, also grown and prepared in Fiji, as 

 well as many other products, were shown in quantity. 

 Great credit is due to the Executive Commissioner, the 

 Hon. J. E. Mason, for making the resources of his colony 

 known by the 'distribution of small samples, during the 

 period the Exhibition was open, to any one having a real 

 interest in their development. 



Victoria. — Besides the splendid collection of water- 

 colour drawings of Australian plants exhibited on the 

 north side of the Court, the fine series of Victorian woods, 

 the golden arch, and the native encampments, all of which 

 attracted a considerable amount of attention, the pro- 

 ducts of the genus Eucalyptus in the shape of oils and 

 resins, exhibited by Mr. Joseph Bosisto, M.P., and Presi- 

 dent of the Commission, were amongst the most interest- 

 ing and important. Samples of the oil of Eucalyptus 

 ainygdalina, rectified and non-rectified, were shown. This 

 is the best quality of eucalyptus oil, and the oil for the 

 preparation of which Mr. Bosisto's firm has become 

 noted. A sample of the essential oil of eucalyptus of 

 commerce was also shown, and described as being ob- 

 tained from the allied varieties of E. amygdalina, but not 

 from the true species. So many varieties of this species 

 are known that it is difficult for bushmen who collect the 

 leaves to distinguish those of the true species from 

 its congeners, forming, as they often do, a compact 

 jungle or bush growing in close proximity to each other. 

 The oil is rubefacient, antiseptic, disinfectant, and a de- 

 odorant of great power. The essential oil of Eucalyptus 

 globulus, the blue gum-tree of Victoria, having tonic, 

 stimulant, and antiseptic properties, as well as those of 

 E. oleosa, E. dicmosa, E. citriodora, E. goniocalyx, E. 

 obliqua, &c., were also shown. A sample of eucalyptol 

 from E. amygdalina and E. globulus is described in the 

 Catalogue as " a homologue of camphor, and appears to 

 be two steps higher in the series. Its vapour, mixed with 

 air, is agreeable when inhaled, and is employed as a 

 therapeutic agent in bronchial and diphtheritic aft'ections." 

 Amongst resins were those of the red gum of Victoria 

 {E. rostrata), described as a thoroughly soluble and deli- 

 cate mucilaginous astringent, and E. resinifera, Australian 

 kino. Fine samples of the resin of the Australian grass- 

 tree {Xanthorrha-a Instilis) were also shown. This is 

 obtainable in large quantities ; it is of a deep amber 

 colour, soluble in spirit, and is used for staining wood to 

 imitate cedar and oak, and is also used in this country in 

 French polish to deepen the colour of light mahogany 

 and other woods. 



New South JValcs. — Minerals, wools, timber, and 

 furniture made of the timber, were the principal objects 

 exhibited. None of the woods called for any special re- 

 mark except, perhaps, a small collection either known or 

 considered to be adapted for wood -engraving, and these 

 specimens were of little or no value in themselves, being 

 badly selected, and in many cases much split or cracked. 

 The collection was more valuable as giving a clue to the 

 source of the woods considered suitable for engraving 

 purposes than for any qualities of their own. Among the 

 woods so exhibited were Backhousia myrtifolia, Hymeno- 

 sporum Jiavuin, Xanthoxylum brachyanthum. Acacia 

 Cunninghami, Duboisia myoporoides, Dysoxylon Frascri- 

 anuni, Gmelina Leichhardtii, Hemicyclia australasica, 

 W'einniannia rubi folia, Eugenia myrtifolia, Pentaceras 

 australis, and others. Amongst fibres and fibrous barks 

 was the bark of the small-leaved nettle-tree {Laportea 

 photiniphylla), also a fishing-net, cordage, and a dilly 

 bag made from the fibre by the aborigines of the northern 

 roast districts. The collection from New Guinea ex- 

 hibited in this Court was of considerable interest. The 

 utilisation of the bony seed shells of Pangium edule for 

 decorating the skin drums is one not seen by us before. 

 The seeds produce a rattling sound when shaken similar 

 to those of Thevctia ncreifolia, which are used for like 

 purposes in British Guiana. 



