68 Catalogue of Botanical Works. 



line of policy as they did with regard to the clove, and long retaining the 

 monopoly of culture : but, in 1772, M. Poivre introduced the nutmeg to 

 the Isles of France and Bourbon, as well as the clove ; from thence it was 

 sent to the West India Islands, and afterwards taken by the British to 

 Bencolen, in Sumatra, where it is grown in the greatest luxuriance. The 

 Dutch appear to have been totally ignorant of the dioecious nature of the 

 nutmeg tree, and of the consequent sterility of many of the trees ; but the 

 French, in the Isle of France, ascertaining that one male plant is sufficient 

 for a hundred females, graft seedling plants with the two sexes in that pro- 

 portion, and hence, besides having no superfluous trees, the plantation 

 comes much sooner into bearing. The culture of the nutmeg does not 

 succeed so well in the West as in the East Indies, as the Rev. L. Guilding 

 (Gard. Mag., vol. i. p. 125.) experienced in the Isle of St. Vincent. In the 

 Moluccas, the fruit is gathered in July, November, and April ; the outer 

 pulpy coat is removed, and afterwards the mace, with a knife. "The nuts 

 are placed over a slow fire, when the shell becomes very brittle, and the 

 seeds, or nutmegs, drop out : these are then soaked in sea-water, and im- 

 pregnated with lime, a process which answers the double purpose of secur- 

 ing the seeds from the attack of insects, and of destroying their vegetating 

 property. It further prevents the volatilization of the aroma. The mace 

 is simply dried in the sun, and then sprinkled with salt water, after which 

 it is fit for exportation. The uses, both of the mace and nutmeg, are 

 well known, whether in a medical or ceconomical point of view. The 

 whole fruit, preserved in sugar, is brought to table with the dessert, but not 

 till after the acrid principle has been, in a great measure, removed by re- 

 peated washings. An essential oil is obtained from the nutmeg and the 

 mace by distillation, and a less volatile one by expression." Plants may be 

 had in the nurseries, and their culture and propagation resembles that of 

 other individuals of the same natural order. 



Ceratiola (the dimin. oikeras, a little horn; the flowers) ericofdes, Heath- 

 like Ceratiola ; Empetrese. A twiggy shrub from sandy soils in South Caro- 

 lina. Its specific name and the family to which it belongs will, or ought, to 

 conveyto the reader every other idea that he could desire as to its appearance 

 and culture. — Sida mollis, Sok-leavedSida; il/alvacea;. A stove mallow-like 

 shrub of ten or twenty feet, with orange-yellow flowers in abundance. 

 Peru. Easiest culture. — Dorstenia ceratosanthes, Horny-flowered Dor- 

 stenia ; ZJrticea?. A stove herbaceous plant from South America, with a 

 very curious receptacle. — Gnidia (from Gnidia in Caria, according to 

 Dioscorides and Pliny) tomentosa, Downy Gnidia ; Thymeleae. A twiggy 

 shrub of three or four feet, with yellow flowers in March and April. 

 Cape of Good Hope ; and the easiest culture. 



The cover of this Number contains an address " to those who have in- 

 complete sets of the Botanical Magazine," in which Mr. Curtis, the highly 

 respectable proprietor, expresses his hope that the additional sixpence, 

 which he is under the necessity of putting on some reprinted numbers of 

 the old series, will not " disturb the confidence of his numerous friends and 

 subscribers." He also states that the sale of the new series is increasing, 

 and that " he hopes it will soon reach to that extent which will become 

 profitable ; although, to uphold a work, the parent of all works of a like 

 nature, and originating in his family, he would even conduct it without 

 profit ; yet he cannot but hope, that in the end he shall find verified, that 

 reward sweetens labour." We confidently hope that this will be the case, 

 and that Mr. Curtis's recent and continued exertions to improve his work, 

 coupled as they are with so much honourable and liberal feeling, will be duly 

 appreciated by the public. To those who know little of the arcana of 

 authorship and publishing, it may seem, on the part of a tradesman, a mere 

 figurative expression, to say that he will carry on a work without profit ; but 



