seca] 



QLfyz Crcatfurj) of Matmy. 



1044 



corn-plant commonly cultivated for its 

 nutritious grain, the flour of which forms 

 an inferior kind of bread. According to 

 Karl Koch, it is found undoubtedly wild 

 on the mountains of the Crimea, especially 

 around the village of Dshimil, on granite, 

 at the elevation of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. 

 In such places its ears are not more than 

 one to two and a half inches long. Its 

 native country explains the reason why 

 it is so much hardier than any variety of 

 wheat. As a corn-crop in this country it 

 is probably the most limited in its growth 

 of any grain, and this is gradually de- 

 creasing by the substitution of wheat. 



The name of S. cornutum is sometimes 

 given to Ergot of Rye, which is a black 

 horn-like spur, into which the seeds or 

 grains of rye and other grasses are 

 changed as the result of disease. In rye 

 some of these spurs are as much as an 

 inch in length, whilst in Loliwrn or Ray- 

 grass they seldom attain to half the length 

 or size of the former, and in smaller 

 grasses the ergot is in proportion to the 

 size of the seed. The Ergot of Rye has 

 long been known as prevailing to a con- 

 siderable extent in countries where rye is 

 grown for bread, and some dreadful mala- 

 dies are reported to have arisen when the 

 ergot has been ground with the flour. 

 Among other effects incidental to its' long 

 use is said to be the production of gan- 

 grene. Ergot is frequently employed by the 

 medical practitioner in cases of difficult 

 parturition. Its more immediate effect 

 upon gravid animals appears to be the pro 

 curing of abortion ; and as one of the com- 

 moner grasses, in which it occurs probably 

 to a greater extent than in any other of our 

 native species, is the Lolium perenne, 

 which is always found to be largely mixed 

 with all good pastures, it often becomes a 

 matter of importance to look well to a 

 meadow in autumn before turning in 

 cows, as there is too much reason to be- 

 lieve that abortion is somewhat frequent 

 from a want of care in this respect. 



Some years since the late Earl Ducie 

 suffered considerably from the ' dropping 

 of calves' in the case of some of his most 

 valuable stock. At this timeaquantity of 

 ergotised Lolium was gathered in the field 

 where these occurrences took place. This 

 was sent for our examination, and from 

 this, and the report given us of the general 

 state of the meadow, we have little doubt 

 but that this diseased grass was the cause 

 of the calamity. 



The quantity of ergot in almost any 



native species of grass in some low damp 



| meadows is quite astonishing; however, 



; ic is lessened by draining. Uplands are 



I not without a quantity of ergotised grass 



I if they have sufficient altitude to attract 



atmospheric vapours. "Where and when 



it prevails, there is much evidence to 



show that it is not advisable to depasture ; 



but, if needs must, then the skimming 



over the bents with' the scythe before 



the admission of cattle, is a plan th-at 



might obviously be had recourse to with 



advantage. [J. B.] 



SECAMONE. A genus of Asclepiadacece 

 containing nearly thirty species of climb- 

 ing or decumbent shrubs, natives of South 

 Africa, India, and Australia. They have 

 opposite leaves and minute flowers in di- 

 chotomous cymes arising from between 

 the petioles. The small calyx is five-cleft, 

 as is also the rotate corolla; the staminal 

 crown consists of five laterally compressed 

 leaflets ; there are twenty erect pollen- 

 masses ; the short stigma is contracted at 

 the apex or slightly bilobed; and the fol- 

 licles are smooth, with numerous comose 

 seeds. Some of the species contain an acrid 

 principle, which makes them useful as 

 medicines. Smyrna Scammony is obtained 

 from an Egyptian species. [W. O.] 



SECHIUM edule is the Chocho of the 

 "West Indies, a cucurbitaceous plant, a 

 native of and commonly cultivated in all 

 the West Indian islands for the sake of its 

 fruit, which is reckoned extremely whole- 

 some, and commonly used there as an 

 article of food by all classes. The generic 

 name is derived from a Greek word, signi- 

 fying ' to fatten in a stall,' the fruit, besides 

 its utility as food for man, having the 

 reputation of being a very fattening food 

 for hogs and other animals. It is a climb- 

 ing plant furnished with three to five-cleft 

 tendrils, and has smooth stems rising 

 from a very large fleshy root, which some- 

 times weighs as much as twenty pounds, 

 and resembles a yam both in appearance 

 and in its eatable qualities when cooked. 

 It has cordate five-angled scabrous leaves, 

 and yellow separate male and female flowers 

 on the sameplant. These latter have a rotate 

 corolla, with ten nectar-bearing glands in 

 the tube; united stamens, with distinct 

 zigzag anthers; and a one-celled ovary 

 containing a single pendulous ovule. The 

 fruit is about four inches in length, ob- 

 long, between fleshy and succulent, some- 

 times furnished with small innocuous 

 prickles, and either green or cream-colour- 

 ed. The plant has been introduced into 

 Madeira and other Atlantic islands, and 

 from this source its fruits are sometimes 

 sent to this country in a fresh state, and 

 sold in Covent Garden Market under the 

 name of Chayotes. [A. S.] 



SECOTIUM. A fine genus of gastero- 

 mycetous Fungi belonging to the natural 

 order Podaxinei. The hymenium is sinuous 

 like that of a young puffball, and forms a 

 mass round the top of the stem as in Bole- 

 tus, or extends above it. . The outer coat 

 of the pileus, though intimately connected 

 with the underlying substance which some- 

 times entirely encloses the hymenium, 

 occasionally breaks away so as to leave a 

 sort of valve enclosing the base of the 

 stem. The spores are either dark or light- 

 coloured. A small species occurs in the 

 south of Prance, but the finer forms are 

 found in Australia, New Zealand, &c. A 

 large Swan River species, of which only 

 imperfect specimens have at present been 

 received, is said to be a most delicious 

 fungus. [M. J. B.] 



