-, Domestic Notices'. — Scotland. 161 



Society for superseding the Necessity of Climbing Boys, No. 8. George 

 Yard, Lombard Street, patronised by the king and by many names of the 

 greatest weight. This Society recommends Mr. Joseph Glass, 2. Moor 

 Lane, Fore Street, Cripplegate, for employment, as a sweeper of chimneys 

 by mechanical means only. This man we hope will meet with every en- 

 couragement. In concluding his lecture, Dr. Birkbeck lamented the gene- 

 ral apathy on the subject of climbing boys, but remarked that the friends 

 of humanity ought not, on that account, to relax in their exertions; for 

 the experience of the past had proved that no exertion in a good cause, 

 however small, was lost ; that every effort was attended by some progress 

 towards the desired result. This progress might be for a long time unfelt 

 or unseen, but it was as certain a result on the effort, as any other effect 

 was the result of any other cause; and, finally, that no great and lasting 

 effect was ever the result of a cause which did not operate slowly and by 

 degrees. 



Toads as Ant-eaters. — In the autumn of last year, a pit, wherein I grew 

 melons, was so much infested with ants, as to threaten the destruction of 

 the whole crop ; which they did, first, by perforating the skin, and after- 

 wards eating their way into the fruit ; and, after making several unsuccess- 

 ful experiments to destroy them, it occurred to me that I had seen the toad 

 feed on them= I accordingly put about half a dozen toads into the pit, and, 

 in the course of a few days, scarcely an ant was to be found. I am, Sir, 

 yours, &c. — T. Spnons. Clowance, Cornwall, Feb. 20. 1828. 



Benefits derived from Toads. — Few gardeners are aware of the very 

 great good which results from preserving these unsightly but useful animals 

 in gardens. Their natural food consists entirely of slugs [No ! See Mr. 

 French, in Queries, &c. p. 187.], worms, snails, flies, and, in short, of all 

 those vermin which the gardener is anxious to get rid of; and, yet, how 

 many are there who ignorantly and wantonly destroy them ! I tell every 

 new gardener who comes to me, that my toads are my best friends. I 

 encourage both them and frogs. Thus my garden, formerly swarming with 

 slugs, &c., is now comparatively clean [?], nor do I ever have my young 

 plants injured. — J. W. March, 1828. 



The Pita Plant. — We have succeeded in making some seeds of the 

 Pita plant, nearly allied to the genus Bromeli«, and valuable for the 

 strength and durability, no less than the abundance of its fibre, which the 

 Spanish writers report to be superior either to flax or hemp, germinate by 

 previous maceration in water, till they began to swell. The seed, however, 

 even with this preparation, almost exhausted our patience before the plants 

 appeared above ground. The young plants, which are as yet of singularly 

 slow growth, resemble in appearance young pine-apple plants, but, from 

 the specimen J received, do not belong to the genus Bromeh'a, but consti- 

 tute, as I am rather inclined to imagine will prove to be the case, a new 

 and hitherto undescribed genus. I am promised some living plants, arrived 

 at maturity, packed in charcoal powder, for whose arrival I shall look with 

 much anxiety, as the progress of the seedlings is so slow as to leave little 

 hope of seeing the flower under five or six years. — William Hamilton. 

 Oxford Place, Plymouth^ Feb. 17. 1828. 



SCOTLAND. 



Cpcas revoluta, or Sago Palm, as in flower at Catty, Kirhudbrightshire, 

 Aprils. 1828. — Dear Sir, I herewith send you a sketch {fig. 59.), with 

 a description and the dimensions of the Cycas revoluta, as it is at present 

 in flower. I am informed that the plant has been in the gardens here 

 upwards of thirty years, and that it must jexceed forty years' growth. It 

 flowered for the first time in June 1826, since which it has produced two 

 growths of leaves, the last of which only remains. As it may not be unac- 



Vol. IV.— No. 14. m 



