j//.vo/i' cnxrof.ruirs. G" 



ail obloiiy and extremely uyly potato^ of a reiklisli eolinir. 

 When cooked tliey are excessively sweety and scarcely at- 

 tractive in appearance, and certainl)- need for their a])]ire- 

 ciatiou a ])alate trained to their liquoriee fla\'our. When 

 the potato ol' the present day \\as as \'et unkndwn in this 

 L'iinntr\', the sweet ])(ptato was r<'L;idai'lv ini])orted, and nn 

 doiiht was very iiinch cnjin-ed l)y the ]']no-lisli ])eiipl(.' as a 

 whiilesome article ol' diet. Beini:;' usnall}' ot' yrcater size 

 and weiyht than the p<itatoes we are now accnstomcd to, 

 there is a special reserve of fun in the exclamation ol: 

 Falstaff, "■ Let the sky rain potatoes and hail kissing- 

 comfits," "Merry Wives" (act v., sc. 5). The coarse 

 red, fleshy root of the sweet potato is employed hy Shake- 

 speare in another palace, to help out the descri}>tion of " the 

 devil luxury,^' "Troilusand Cressida " (act v., sc. i) . 



These are not the only examples of useful species of 

 convolvnlus. The ]Mcxi('an plant Tj)oiiia\( piirijii produces 

 the jalap of commerce, and Convolnilns (ILtsccliis abounds 

 in priissic acid, the liqueur known as Noj'an being prej)ared 

 from it, with the aid of alcohol. Finally, and omitting 

 much that might be said if the sulijeet were formally set 

 before us, it may interest the reader to know that the oil of 

 rhodium, which is said to be so attractive to I'ats as to cause 

 them to swarm to it without fear, even if held in the hand 

 of a ratcatcher, is the produce of a convolvulus known as 

 lihodorlilza . 



It appears to be a long journey through the vegetable 

 kingdom from our pretty and harmless Convolvulus minor 

 to the extremely beautiful but pernicious British weed 

 Dodder, Cuftcufa epillii/iuiiiii. But to the Ijotauist the 

 transition is easy and natural, for the dodder, which by its 

 parasitic growth of crimson stems strangles the plant it 



