General Notices* 393. 



3'lefd". (p. 82.) 1 Under .Malvaceae, a number of different species are mentioned 

 as affording fibres which are used in India as substitutes for hemp ; and the 

 flowers of Malva Alcea, and hibiscus Rosa sinensis, having an astringent pro- 

 perty, are employed both in India and in China for blackening the eyebrows, 

 and also the shoes. The mucilage afforded by all the Malvaceae, the Bom- 

 baceae, 'Byttneridcecs, and the Tlliaceae (which Mr. lloyle agrees with Mr. Brown 

 in thinking ought to be united into one order), being, entirely innoxious, might 

 be seasoned, and used as food. The cotton plants, species of (xossypium, 

 belong to the Malvaceae, which, relatively to warm climates, must be considered 

 as a very important order. A proportionate space is in consequence given to 

 describe the culture of the cotton plant in different parts of India. Under 

 Hyttneridcece we are informed, on the authority of Dr. Lindley,, that the gum 

 tragacanth of Sierra Leone is produced by a species of Sterculia. Several plants 

 in this- order, as might be expected, afford fibres which make a good substitute 

 for hemp. All the families in the order Tiliaceae, such as Corchorus, Trium- 

 fetta, and Grewz'a, afford mucilage, and a tenacious fibre that may be used either 

 for making flax, or mats, like the European garden mats,, which are formed 

 from the Tiliae. It is remarked that the inner bark of the Grew/a oppositifolia 

 is used in the Himalaya for the same purpose that the bark of the Tilia europae v a 

 is in Russia and Sweden. The leaves of the different species of Grewia are 

 given as fodder to cattle, and are dried and stacked up for winter use, as those, 

 of the lime tree and the birch are in Sweden. It is exceedingly interesting 

 thus to observe the same general character of climate accompanied by the same 

 natural orders of vegetables ; and that these vegetables are applied to the 

 same general purposes by the inhabitants. In conclusion,, we have only to 

 observe, that the author has shown a superior degree of taste and judgment, 

 in generalising his subject by comparing the productions of the Himalaya with 

 those of other countries. The book is remarkably well got up (to use a 

 publisher's term), and it ought certainly to find its way into the library of 

 every botanist. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE, 



Art. I. General Notices. 



FonMATION of Ground Ice. — In p. 118. we have noticed a theory on the sub- 

 ject of ground ice, by M. Arago, as given in Jameson' s Journal; and we have now 

 to notice another, by the Rev. Mr. Eisdale, as given in the same work, for July, 

 1834. We are induced to do so, because we think Mr. Eisdale's theory ac- 

 counts more satisfactorily for the phenomena than that of M. Arago. Ground 

 ice, it appears, is never formed but in streams, and after a severe- hoar-frost. 

 " The hoar-frost, which is congealed moisture, precipitated from; the atmo- 

 sphere, and falling into the river when the water is cooled down to the freez- 

 ing point, cannot be dissolved. It retains in the water the very shape in 

 which it descends from the air. When these small crystals fall on a deep 

 unfrozen pool, the water being above the freezing point, the particles melt, 

 and are incorporated with the water ; but, in a shallow and agitated stream, 

 almost the whole water is brought, in succession, into contact with the intense, 

 frost, and may thus be cooled down to the freezing point to the very bottom 

 of the stream, before even, a pellicle of ice is formed on the stagnant pool. 

 All the particles of hoar-frost, then, or frozen vapour, which fall on such a 

 stream, will remain unmelted ; and, being tossed in all directions by the agita- 

 tions of the current, will be brought into contact with the rocks, or other 

 substances projecting from the bottom, to which they will readily adhere, and 

 form a nucleus for that strange accumulation called ground ice, which is found 

 nowhere but in streams." (Jameson's Jour., vol. xvii. p. 172.) Since the 



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