286 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



twisted off near the roots ; heavy timbers are 

 driven through the sides of buildings or deep 

 into the solid earth ; men and animals are ter- 

 ribly mangled by contact with flying debris, 

 and by being swept over the surface of the 

 ground ; bowlders weighing tons are rolled 

 along ; railroad trains are thrown from the 

 tracks ; and iron bridges are carried from 

 their foundations. 



Economical Uses of Flowers. — The dried 

 flowers of Hemerocallis graminea and the 

 young flowers of the plantain pickled in 

 vinegar are choice Chinese foods. Capers 

 are the flower-buds of a Capparis or a Zygo- 

 phyllum ; and cloves are the unexpanded 

 flower-buds of Caryophyllus aromaticus. The 

 petals of safflower, Carlhamus tinctorius, 

 yield a beautiful dye of various shades of 

 color between red and yellow. It is the car- 

 thamine of the pink saucers, and this, mixed 

 with powdered mica or talc, forms a rouge 

 for ladies' toilet-tables. The dried flowers 

 of two species of Butea, locally known as 

 dhak, tisso, toolsee, and kassaree, are exten- 

 sively used in India for the production of 

 orange and red dyes. The orange-red flow- 

 ers, which grow in clusters, are pressed when 

 fresh, or boiled or steeped when dried, in a 

 weak solution of lime in water. The flower- 

 buds of Calasaccion, which resemble a clove, 

 the blossoms of a larkspur of Khorassan, 

 and the white flowers of Cedrela Toona, 

 give yellow dyes. The Sophora Japonica, a 

 well-known ornamental shrub of our gar- 

 dens, is cultivated in China for the sake of 

 the imperial yellow dye obtained from its 

 bunches of flowers and undeveloped flower- 

 buds. Flowers of marigold are made into 

 garlands in India for the idols and for the 

 decoration of houses in festivals. The red 

 flowers of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis supply a red 

 dye, and have been used to polish boots and 

 shoes. A fleeting orange or buff dye is ex- 

 tracted in India from the corolla tubes of 

 Nyctanthes, which are also strung in neck- 

 laces for women. The flowers of the teak and 

 of the pomegranate are used in India for dye- 

 ing red. The dried stigmas of the crocus are 

 a source of saffron. Cake saffron is made 

 of the florets pressed together with mucilage. 

 Insect-powder is the pulverized dried flowers 

 of Pyrethrum. In medicine, the female flow- 

 ers of hops are tonic and narcotic ; the Pro- 



vence rose is considered astringent ; the flow- 

 ers of the hollyhock are mucilaginous and 

 demulcent ; those of Grislea tomentosa as- 

 tringent and tonic ; those of camomile tonic 

 and anodyne. Infusion of linden-flowers is 

 given as an antispasmodic. The flowers of 

 the Abyssinian Brayera anthelmintica and 

 the flower-heads of Artemisia act as vermi- 

 fuges. Violets are considered purgative ; 

 but a conserve of the flowers with sugar has 

 a grateful flavor for covering nauseous medi- 

 cine. The flowers of the Indian Mohwa 

 (Bassia latifolia) secrete much sugar, and are 

 gathered by the natives during their season, 

 in March and April. A single tree will yield 

 many hundred-weights of corollas. They are 

 eaten by the poorer classes in various parts 

 of India. The ripe flowers have a sickly 

 smell and a sweet taste, resembling manna, 

 and are stored as a staple of food ; when 

 dried they have somewhat the odor and ap- 

 pearance of Sultana raisins ; containing 63£ 

 per cent of sugar, they are as nourishing as 

 grain, but people could not live on them 

 alone for any length of time. They are dis- 

 tilled by the Parsees, and yield a powerful, 

 coarse spirit. Cowslip-flowers are used in 

 wine-making, and the flowers of meadow- 

 sweet to improve the flavor of certain wines. 

 Some of the Chinese teas are often scented 

 with flowers. The kinds of flowers and the 

 processes are various, but the object of all is 

 to make the tea more attractive. 



Forestry in Spain. — Action was taken for 

 the promotion of forestral science in Spain 

 toward the close of the fifteenth century; 

 and there is reason to believe that measures 

 had been adopted to check the destruction 

 of timber even previous to the reign of Fer- 

 dinand and Isabella. The school of forest- 

 ry, projected in 1835, went into operation 

 ten years later, and was attached to the Es- 

 curial in 1868. It is under the direction of 

 a head administrator and chief engineer, 

 with nine professors and three assistants. 

 The number of students, now ninety-two, is 

 not limited, and is dependent on the number 

 of successful candidates for entrance each 

 year. On the completion of the course at 

 the school, which lasts four years, the suc- 

 cessful candidates are appointed to the corps 

 of forest engineers. The course of instruc- 

 tion is divided into preparatory and profes- 



