352 Notice of Piperin. 



advances the numerous families of herbaceous plants make their ap- 

 pearance in rapid succession. The species arietinum,pubescens,humile 

 and spectabile of the admired Cypripedium, are found on the banks 

 of the " Riviere du nord" and " R. de la petite nation," the Kalmia 

 and Sarracenia in the swamps bordering upon "Lac de la Chaudiere" 

 and L. Chat. But as we go still farther west many of these more 

 delicate plants are not found, the dark and thick forest of evergreens 

 which stretch off towards Lake Nipissing, filled with the rubbish of 

 decaying trees, which have been accumulating for ages, with the 

 dense underbrush of hardy shrubs, afford but little chance for those 

 plants accustomed to the light and heat of more open forests ; yet still 

 they are far from being destitute of interest, aside from their external 

 characters ; among the ancient forests of the north west, which remain 

 untouched by the axe, and their solitudes undisturbed except by their 

 native inhabitants, vegetation appears as it probably has appeared ev- 

 er since the deluge ; no straggling foreign plant or naturalized exotic 

 is ever found vegetating there ; different species of Betula, Xylos- 

 teum, Lonicera,* &;c. are intermingled in the never ending forest of 

 Norway pines, whilst a variety of Fungi, Ferns and Mosses are the 

 more humble occupants of these gloomy shades. 



Art. XIX. — JYotice of Piperin ; by T. G. Clemson, Member of 

 the Royal School of Mines. 



TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAJV, 



Paris, Jan. 12th, 1830. 

 Sir — Whilst occupied in Mr. Robiquet's Laboratory, I had occasion 

 to prepare, for the demands of commerce, more than usually large 

 quantities of Piperin : — I have frequently treated an hundred pounds of 

 piper nigrum at a single digestion. — Thus I had an opportunity of 

 examining the substance, and rectifying certain representations res- 

 pecting its properties, and I think that the following additions can- 

 not but be of utility to those persons who may have occasion to pre- 

 pare the substance. 



■" A specimen of the beautiful species of Lonicera found by the lamented Pursh 

 near the Red river is now growing in the garden of Wm. Teasdel, Esq. of St. An- 

 drews ; it is a splendid plant. Mr. Teasdel botanized considerably with Pursh and 

 towards the unhappy close of his life, rendered him all the comfort and assistance in 

 his power. His useful collections are lost. 



