Retrospective Criticism. ■ 445 



commend its application to naval architecture, for those parts of ships espe- 

 cially which are constantly under water, as by constructing those parts of 

 a timber specifically heavier than that employed in the upper works, the 

 vessel would be stifFer in the water, while, from tlie nature of the timber, 

 her duration would be almost eternal. The utility of this timber for piles, 

 large buildings, and even for rafters for hot-houses, appears also equally ob- 

 vious ; since it would neither be subject to rot, like ordinary timber, nor to 

 rust, as iron does even with the precaution of frequent painting. — Id. 



The Locust Tree. — Your correspondent furnishes a striking instance of 

 the necessity of always referring local names to some scientific standard, 

 since, from a want of attention to this, he has confounded two trees which 

 have nothing in common, but their vulgar English name, viz. the Locust 

 tree, landed by Cobbett, and that described by Mr. Henry Phillips. The 

 former of these is a native of North America, common enough in our plea- 

 sure-grounds, under the equally improper name of the Acacia. It is the 

 Robinifi! Pseudacacia, a handsome spreading tree, with diadelphous flowers, 

 and producing pods destitute of all internal or edible pulp. While the lat- 

 ter, the Courbaril tree of Dominica and the French Islands, and the Locust 

 tree of the British islands, is the Hymen^e'a Courbaril, a tree of large dimen- 

 sions, producing decandrous flowers, followed by a large ligneous pod, con- 

 tainixig seeds enveloped in a j'ellow saccharine pulp of a strong and unplea- 

 sant odour, eaten by the negroes, and extremely nourishing. The timber 

 of this ti'ee is of a fine mahogany colour and grain, extreme hardness, sus- 

 ceptible of a high polish, and well adapted for furniture, &c. j it is of con- 

 siderable durability when protected from the weather, but decaying soon on 

 exposure to humidity, and the vicissitudes of the seasons. — Id. 



Winters Rest to Extra-tropical Plants. — Your correspondent, J. A. M. 

 (p. 314.), speaking of the necessity of winter's rest to most extra-tropical plants, 

 adds : " Vines planted within the tropics never do well. The continual 

 excitement renders them weak, irregular in growth, and almost always bar- 

 ren." Whence your correspondent has obtained this information I cannot 

 conjecture, since it is totally the reverse of my experience, never having 

 seen vines growing more vigorously, or producing more abundant crops, 

 than at the house of a friend of mine in the West Indies, who, by training 

 them over an arbour, and judiciously pruning them in the wane of the 

 moon, after gathering the crop, succeeded in obtaining four crops annually, 

 which is more than any grape vines here, even with the protection of a 

 house, ever yield. During a residence of many years within the tropics, I 

 never witnessed a want of vigour in the grape vine, or want of productive- 

 ness in its returns. — Id. 



List of Plants from Seed,furnished by Mr. Watts, of Carthagena, to Dr. 

 Hamilton, and now growing at Mr. Pontey's nursery, Plymouth. — Ipomce'a 

 pilosa. Hyperanthera Moringa, or Horseradish tree, the root of which is 

 equal to horseradish, while the seed yields the famous oil of ben. Canna 

 (tuberosa), or el Achira, a species of Canna, from the Choco, closely resem- 

 bling the C. indica, but bearing a farinaceous esculent root. El Fraylecillo, 

 a climber of the family of Evt'ph.ovbiacecs, of which Father Gumilla gives the 

 following wonderful account : — " Llamo la attencion de los fisicos sobre el 

 Fraylecillo 6 Tuatua. Quantas ojas comiere, tantas evacuaciones ha de 

 expeler. Si arranca las ojas tirano hacia abaxo, cada oja causa una evacu- 

 acion ; si las arranca hacia arriba, causan vomitos ; y si arrancan unas para 

 arriba y otras hacia abaxo concurre uno y otro efecto." {Gumilla, vol. ii. 

 p. 298.) Pita Plant, of the family of Bromehacf^F, producing a fibre supe- 

 rior to either flax or hemp for strength and durability. La Pacunga. El 

 Pepinito Oriolla, a species of Cucumis (new ?), the fruit of which, when 

 boiled and dressed in the French manner, is an excellent table vegetable. 

 El Pepino, a (new?) species of Cucurbita. El Sorosi, a handsome climber, 

 beai'ing a long orange-coloured fruit, the pulp of which is eatable ; the seeds 



