CONCLUSION. 343 



or importers ; until it has become difficult for a dealer to 

 know which sort of Iron-wood, Beef-wood, Satin-toood, etc., 

 his customer wants. The scientific botanist would have 

 chosen less familiar, but certainly more definite, terms. 



This brings us to the conclusion of an attempt to describe 

 the most important products of the Yegetable Kingdom 

 which constitute the foreign commerce of our country. 

 To many the number of articles will be a matter of sur- 

 prise ; but, numerous as the products are which the energy 

 of man has discovered for his use and profit, they are few 

 compared with those which a bountiful Providence has 

 still in store for us. Not a year passes but adds to our 

 riches in this respect ; and when public attention and the 

 investigations of scientific men are more fully directed to 

 this branch of learning, an immense harvest will be reaped 

 from the now unknown treasures of the vegetable kingdom. 

 Many may say, Have we not all we require ? The answer 

 to this is, We might have said the same before Dr. Mont- 

 gomery discovered that the Malays made the handles of 

 their hatchets of the hardened juice of a tree, and yet what 

 inestimable benefits has that discovery conferred ! How 

 would the difficulties of the Submarine Telegraph have 

 been overcome without Gutta Percha? In order to 



