nera are quite intermediate. The Solanacece 

 generally are herbs or shrubs, very rarely 

 trees, with alternate leaves often in pairs, 

 one smaller than the other; the inflores- 

 cence terminal, or more frequently axillary 

 or a little above the axil. They are natives 

 of all tropical countries, more especially 

 America, and a few are found in more 

 temperate climates. Many are remarkable 

 for their strong narcotic poisonous 

 qualities. 



There are above sixty genera, variously 

 distributed into tribes by different bo- 

 tanists. The most important are Sola- 

 rium, Capsicum, Physalis, Nicotiana, 

 Datura, Solandra, Petunia, Hyoscyamus, 

 Atropa, Mandragora, Lycium, and Oestrum. 

 A few genera forming the groups called 

 Kolanacece and Retziacece are by many 

 botanists included among Solanacece. 



SOLANDRA. The name of Dr. Solander, 

 still well remembered as the fellow-tra- 

 veller of Sir Joseph Banks and Captain 

 Cook, and for the importance of his bo- 

 tanical observations, has been attached to 

 a genus of tropical American shrubs be- 

 longing to the Solanacece. (Atropaxece). The 

 species have large somewhat fleshy leaves 

 clustered near the ends of the branches, 

 and large terminal solitary flowers ; the 

 calyx is tubular: the corolla funnel-shaped 

 distended, its limb flve-lobed; the sta- 

 mens Ave, with versatile anthers opening 

 lengthwise; the ovary partially four- 

 celled; and the fruit fleshy, four-celled, 

 surrounded by the calyx. Four or five 

 species having yellowish or greenish 

 flowers are in cultivation. In their flowers 

 and leaves they resemble the old Datura 

 arborea. — *^ [M. T. II.] 



SOLANTM. Few genera of plants are 

 more important than this, which includes 

 among its species the Potato, and serves 

 as the type of the order Solanacece. The 

 species are very numerous, distributed 

 widely over the globe, but especially fre- 

 quent in South America. They reckon 

 among them herbs shrubs or small trees, 

 with lateral or terminal inflorescence. 

 The inflorescence, indeed, in the first in- 

 stance is always terminal, but in course 

 of growth it becomes bent downwards to 

 give place to a shoot, which is given off 

 from the side of the stem lower down, so 

 that there is a reciprocal change in the 

 direction of the shoot and of the inflores- 

 cence. In this way the seeming anomaly 

 of an inflorescence placed on the side of 

 the main stem, and not axillary to a leaf 

 (frequently not even opposite to one), may 

 be explained. The calyx consists of five or 

 more segments ; the corolla is rotate or 

 bell-shaped, with a short tube; the sta- 

 mens are generally five in number, with 

 short filaments, and anthers converging 

 into a cone round the style, each anther 

 opening by two pores at the top. The 

 fruit is a berry containing many seeds. 



The most important of themanyspeciesis 

 S. tuberosum, more familiar under the name 

 of the Potato. Of this plant the under- 

 ground stems or tubers are in common use 



as an esculent. These tubers are frequently 

 considered roots, but erroneously so, their 

 true nature being revealed by the little 

 'eyes' or rudimentary buds, which under 

 favourable circumstances become deve- 

 loped into shoots. A true root, it may be ■ 

 remarked, does not (except in certain very I 

 exceptional cases) bear buds or shoots. j| 

 Another proof that these tubers are really 

 dilated branches is, that occasionally 

 small leaf-bearing tubers are met with in 

 the axils of the ordinary leaves of the 

 plant. 



The introduction of the Potato into 

 Europe is ascribed to certain colonists 

 sent from this country to Virginia under 

 the auspices of Sir Walter Raleigh. The 

 plant is indigenous in Chili and Peru. 

 The varieties cultivated in this country 

 are very numerous. The Potato consists 

 of amass of cells, enclosingstarch-granules 

 and an albuminous juice. The chemical 

 composition of the Potato is probably 

 subject to great variations, as the analyses 

 of different chemists vary considerably. 

 In general terms, it may be stated that 

 Potatos contain water in quantity amount- 

 ing to three-fourths of their weight, the 

 remaining fourth part being made up of 

 starch, gum, sugar, albumen, vegetable 

 fibre, and a very small proportion of fatty 

 material. 



Potatos in cultivation are subject to 

 various diseases, the most important and 

 disastrous of which is one which first 

 made its appearance (at least as a widely- 

 spread malady) in 1845. This potato-mur- 

 rain appears, from the researches of the 

 Rev. M. J. Berkeley and others, to be due 

 to the presence of a fungus, Botrytis (or 

 Peronospora) infestans, which first attacks 

 the leaves, causing discoloration, and 

 thence rapidly spreads down the stems to 

 the tubers. The principal effects of the dis- 

 ease consist in the increased quantity of 

 water, the diminished quantity of starch, 

 and the conversion of the albumen into 

 casein. [See Potato Murrain.] Owing to 

 the almost entire dependence of the Irish 

 peasantry on this vegetable for food, the 

 most disastrous consequences ensued from 

 the failure of this crop ; and it is still 

 heartily to be wished that something of a 

 less precarious nature should be grown, 

 which would furnish a larger percentage 

 of nutritious matter than the potato. 

 Numerous substitutes have been proposed 

 and tried, but time is required to combat 

 the prejudice in favour of the potato, and 

 to deveiope sufficiently the capabilities of 

 the proposed substitutes. 



In addition to their use as a vegetable, 

 Potatos furnish a large quantity of starch, 

 employed for various purposes in the arts. 

 It forms the basis of certain farinaceous 

 foods, as Bright's Nutritious Farina, &c, 

 and is mixed with wheaten flour in the 

 manufacture of bread. This adulteration 

 can readily be detected by the microscope, 

 especially on the addition of a solution of 

 potash, which causes the starch-granules 

 of the potato to swell up, while no effect is 

 produced on the starch-grains of wheat. 



