288 Retrospective Criticism. 



fruit, when cooked, of Sechium edule here, and thought it very "good ; it 

 resembles our pumpkin, but is not quite so soft. Pisang is baked in the 

 ashes, when in an unripe state, and is eaten with fresh butter; when ripe, it is 

 cut in slices, and baked with butter. It is also used, when unripe, in broth, 

 with meat; but I prefer it when ripe and sprinkled with sugar and eaten with 

 a sweet sauce. Should I find any pisang on my return home, I should like 

 to give a proof of my knowledge of cookery. 



I have several times found a dark and light variety of Oncidium altissimum 

 in flower here, and I have seen the flower-stalk 8 ft. long, hanging down to 

 the ground from the tree on which the plant grew. The eye is delighted with 

 the aspect of the forests on the mountains, from 600 ft. to 800 ft. above the 

 level of the sea, and which become gradually increased in height as they recede., 

 A hill of a moderate height in the neighbourhood is entirely covered with 

 pepper, the same species which Moritz and La Guayra sent to the garden, 

 and which I have always considered to be the well known P. aduncum. P. 

 umbellatum Jacq. is also very abundant here. There is a palm here 

 which very much resembles Oreodoxa regia, but seems to be different, from 

 its seed being much larger. We shall probably be here some time, perhaps 

 even to the middle of June, and I earnestly hope it may be the case, as there 

 is less of the fever peculiar to the climate here ; and about this time of the 

 year it begins to rage in Havanna and on the adjacent sea-coast. (Garten- 

 Zeitung, 1839, p. 218.) 



Art. II. Retrospective Criticism. 



APPARENT Increase in Magnitude of the Sun when losing and setting. — The 

 reason given by Mr. Torbron, in page 191., for the greater apparent magnitude 

 of the rising and setting sun over that luminary when vertical, is equally un- 

 satisfactory with the one given in page 100. When at school I recollect my 

 teacher explaining the phenomenon thus. The denser the air through which 

 an object is viewed, the greater is the apparent magnitude of that object ; and, 

 as all are aware, the nearer the earth's surface the denser is the air, the higher, 

 the more rarefied : therefore, when that glorious orb, the sun, is rising or 

 setting, it is viewed through the greatest extent of dense air, consequently, it 

 is magnified ; and, as it advances towards a vertical position, its apparent mag- 

 nitude lessens in proportion to the increasing rarefaction of the air through 

 which it is viewed. Again, when it passes its vertical position, its apparent 

 magnitude increases in proportion as the density of the air through which it is 

 viewed increases. 



By the same rule, when distant objects appear larger (such as hills, trees, 

 &c.) than usual, the increased density of the atmosphere is the cause, and 

 certainly rain will shortly follow the phenomenon ; and when they appeal- 

 smaller than usual, fine weather may as certainly be expected. — L. Stephen- 

 son, Gardener to D. Maclean, Esq., M.P. Witton Castle, Bishop Auckland, 

 April 13. 1842. 



The Cemeteries of Edinburgh and Leith. (p. 199.) — Your valuable corre- 

 spondent, Mr. Brown, has done justice to this interesting subject ; but I could 

 wish he had said something more on the Grey Friars' churchyard. There is 

 no churchyard in Scotland that possesses half the interest of this hallowed 

 area. It is surrounded by a belt, if I may so speak, of architectural tombs, 

 that for singularity in some instances, gorgeous magnificence in others, and 

 imposing magnitude in general, are not to be paralleled in the United King- 

 dom ; and yet many of these tombs, especially those set against the backs of 

 the houses which form Candlemaker Row, are in a state of dilapidation dis- 

 graceful to the city. Some of the finest of them are being rent asunder by 

 the growth of young trees, which are springing up in the crevices of the stones. 

 — J. S. Edinburgh, April, 1842. 



