Foreign Notices : — Africa. 567 



in honour of the lady of the excellent Count Lorenzo Taverna, a distinguished 

 agriculturist and chemist. Two varieties were obtained from Paeonia Moutan 

 rosea, fecundated with the pollen of P. tenuifolia, and, last spring, were the 

 admiration of horticulturists. The flower was equal in size to that of the 

 parent plant, but fuller ; and one of them of so rich a carmine colour, that it 

 was impossible to look at it while the rays of the sun were upon it. It is 

 therefore not inferior to the Ferbena chamaedrifolia superba in colour. 



A few days ago, being in Bergamo, a town in Lombardy, about ten leagues 

 north-east from Milan, which principally owes its opulence to the trade in silk, 

 considered the best in Italy, next to that of Piedmont, I went to see the small 

 garden of the Count Giovanni Batta Maffesi, a man of great learning, and much 

 respected for his virtues. I saw in his stove Caryota urens, Zamia pungens, 

 1 ft. 3 in. in diameter ; Z. horrida, 1 ft. in diameter ; Strelftzia juncea in 

 flower, lanceolata, and reginae ; also a respectable collection of camellias; 

 Araucaria imbricata, 10 ft. high, which, with A. brasiliana, I advised to be 

 planted in the open air, as the climate is mild and salubrious. I saw the Nan- 

 dina domestica growing vigorousl}', 8ft. high,in the groves in the open air; also 

 OUea fragrans, only 8 ft. high ; Magnolia; acuminata, 36 ft. high, and 8 in. 

 in diameter ; M. grandiflora, and M. glauca ; Callistemon lophanthus, 6 ft. high, 

 protected in winter by a simple covering of straw, to prevent radiation (a 

 proof of the mildness of the climate) ; iigustrum japonicum, 18 ft. high, and 

 10 in. in diameter, the most beautiful specimen lever saw; Wistark flori- 

 bunda and Backhouszawa, this is the first time the latter has flowered ; Photfnia 

 serrulata, 10 ft. high, and 6 in. in diameter; Sterciilia jolatanifolia, 10ft. high, and 

 1 ft. in diameter ; iihododendron arboreum, ponticum, and maximum. — Ghi- 

 seppe Manetti. Mo7iza, Aug.2\. 1841. 



AFRICA. 



On the Malaria of the Western Coast of Africa. — Although it may, appa- 

 rently, be a little removed from the general routine of subjects immediately con- 

 nected with gardening, this subject is of such vital importance, more espe- 

 cially to the enterprising individuals who risk their lives in the prosecution 

 of botanical researches, that I cannot refrain from noticing the important 

 discoveries recently made, for which we are indebted to the zeal and ability of 

 Professor Daniel, in whose hands the data from which they have been made 

 were placed by the Board of Admiralty. 



Those who have visited the pestiferous shores of Western Africa have long 

 been aware of the existence of a dismal and sickening stench, which assails the 

 nerves on entering the deltas of the rivers in that part of the world. Singular 

 as it may appear, it is only very lately, and incidentally, that the true cause and 

 consequence of this smell have been discovered. It is proved beyond a doubt, 

 by the experiments of Mr. Daniel, founded on analysis of the waters which 

 have been conveyed to England, that it is occasioned by the action of decayed 

 vegetable matters, which are conveyed in enormous quantities by these rivers 



and the flowers globular), the Manetti di Casoretti, the Bellini major di Caso- 

 retti, la Castioni diVariselis, laVestalis di Casoretti, la Santiniana di Casoretti, 

 la Monti di Casoretti, and a hundred others, have all been raised in the garden 

 at Milan, and by Milanese gardeners. In speaking of this work by the Abbe 

 Berlese, allow me to call your attention to what he says in p. 31., on raising 

 the Camelh'a from seed, viz. : " Ces graines restent souvent deux ans sans 

 lever, et quelquefois elles levent des la premiere annee." (" These seeds often 

 lie in the ground for two years without vegetating, and sometimes they spring 

 up the first year.") Now, with us the Camelh'a vegetates after having been two 

 or three months sown (we sow the seed as soon as it is gathered, because, 

 being of an oily nature, it soon spoils if exposed to the air) ; and those that 

 remain longer in the ground are imperfect or badly treated, and the plants 

 produced from such seed are badly grown, and finally perish. 



