botanically arranged. 429 



dried, into a strong lye of ashes, but neither of them made the 

 least alteration. Mr. Philip Miller says, the American Toxico- 

 dendron, with the juice of which the Abb6 Sauvages stained 

 his linen, is the same species of plant from which the inhabi- 

 tants of Japan procure the varnish with which they stain all 

 their utensils : and recommends it to the inhabitants of the 

 (then) American colonies to collect this varnish, which, he 

 says, may not only produce much profit to themselves, but also 

 become a national advantage. But Mr. John Ellis insists upon 

 there being a difference in their specific characters. [Philos. 

 Trans. Royal Society. Vol. xlix, /. 157, 161, 866. J 



The leaves of some of our Poison Wood trees are entirely simi- 

 lar to Dr. Kcempfer's figure of the Sitz, vel Sits dsju, vulgo urus 

 seu urus noki. Arbor vernicifera legitima folio pinnato, Juglandis 

 fructu, recemoso Ciceris facie : and the only difference between 

 the leaf of one species of our Sumach and the leaf of the varnish 

 tree, raised from seeds sent to the Royal Society, is, that the 

 middle part, and not the base of the leaf of Sumach, is serrated. 

 Considering the great profits that have accrued from the varnish 

 tree, to the two large empires of China and Japan, and the 

 advantages of a deep, permanent and incorrosive black dye, it 

 must be thought worth while to make experiments on all our 

 species of the Hedera and Rhus. If we should fail of success 

 with respect to the native plants, there can be no doubt but 

 that the varnish tree of Japan, could the seeds be procured in 

 a vegetitive state, would flourish in America. 



VIBURNUM. Linn. Gen. Plant. 332. 

 Viburnum foliis cordatis serratis venosis subtus tomentosis. 

 Syst. Nat. 



MEALTREE. 



