(Malvacece). The word is derived from the 

 Arabic, signifying musk seed, and was 

 given in allusion to the agreeable odour 

 of the seeds of one species, A. moschatus, 

 a native of Bengal. The seeds of this plant 

 were formerly mixed with hair powder, and 

 are still used to perfume pomatum. They 

 possess cordial and stomachic properties, 

 and are mixed with coffee by the Arabs. 

 In the West Indies the bruised seeds, 

 steeped in rum, are used both externally 

 and internally as a remedy for snake-bites. 

 A. esculentus, formerly called Hibiscus es- 

 culentus, a native of the West Indies, but 

 naturalised in India, furnishes the Ochro 

 or Gobbo pods, that are much used in 

 thickening soups, for which their abundant 

 mucilage well fits them. The young pods 

 are gathered green and pickled like capers. 

 The plant is cultivated in the south of 

 France for the sake of its pods, which when 

 ripe are of a conical shape, covered with 

 hair, and about an inch in length. All the 

 species of this genus furnish excellent fibre. 

 The genus is botanically characterised by 

 a deciduous ten-leaved involucel, a spathe- 

 like, tubular, conical, five-toothed calyx, 

 spreading petals, one-celled anthers, a style 

 cleft into five divisions at the top, a capsule 

 with five cells and five valves, whose edges 

 are not bent inwards. [M. T. M.] 



ABERRANT. Something which differs 

 from customary structure. Also a group of 

 plants which stands intermediate, as it 

 were, between two other groups :— e. g. Fu- 

 mariacece, which are by some regarded as 

 an aberrant group of Papaveracece. 



ABIES. In this genus of the cone-bear- 

 ing family (Conifera) are included the plants 

 commonly called Firs, in contradistinction 

 to pines (Plnus). The firs are for the most 

 part lofty trees, with small, narrow ever- 

 green leaves, placed in two rows along the 

 sides of the branches, or occasionally tufted. 

 The flowers are unisexual ; but the male 

 flowers are borne upon the same trees as 

 the female ones, and both kinds are pro- 

 duced in catkins. The mature female in- 

 florescence constitutes the cone, which is 

 usually of a cylindrical form, consisting of 

 a number of woody scales overlapping each 

 other, but not thickened at their points, as 

 in pines. The species of fir are remarkable 

 as timber trees, and for yielding turpen- 

 tine, &c. 



A. excelsa is the common or Norway 

 Spruce Fir, which when well grown is a hand- 

 some tree, sometimes reaching the height of 

 one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. 

 The leaves are of a dull green colour, of a 

 four-cornered shape, and sharply point- 

 ed; the cones are cylindrical, pendulous, 

 their scales bluntish, or slightly waved or 

 toothed. The tree is a native of Norway, 

 Russia, and the mountainous parts of Eu- 

 rope generally, thriving best on a damp 

 soil. Its timber is much used under the 

 name of white deal. From its trunk exudes 

 a resin commonly called frankincense, 

 which, when melted in water and strained, 

 constitutes Burgundy pitch. The young 

 leaf -buds or shoots of this and other species 



are boiled down in water to form essence 

 of spruce, from which spruce beer is made. 



A. balsamea is the Balm of Gilead Fir, an 

 American tree of much smaller stature than 

 the common spruce fir, with fiat leaves, 

 whitish beneath. Its cones are erect. It 

 yields a pure form of turpentine, called 

 Canada balsam, much used for optical pur- 

 poses, and for preserving certain micro- 

 scopic objects. 



A. canadensis, or the Hemlock Spruce, is 

 a native of North America and Canada, and, 

 from its abundance and eminent beauty, 

 is frequently referred to by the American 

 poets under the name of the hemlock. The 

 bark is much used for tanning purposes. 



A. Picea, the Silver Fir, is so called from 

 its leaves, which are whitish on their under 

 surface, arranged in two rows, and have 

 their points turned upwards. The cones 

 are erect, of a greenish purple colour, their 

 scales provided with long tapering bracts 

 on their outer surface. The beauty of this 

 tree is such that Virgil has applied to it the 

 epithet pulcherrima, 'very beautiful.' It 

 attains a height of 100 feet and upwards, 

 and is a native of Central Europe and 

 Northern Asia. Its timber is not so much 

 prized as that of some other species, but is 

 durable under water, and from its bark 

 exudes a resin which, when purified, is 

 known as Strasburg turpentine. 



A. Larix is the common Larch fir. Its 

 needle-shaped leaves are at first arranged 

 in tufts, but subsequently become separated 

 one from the other by the lengthening of 

 the branch upon which they grow. They 

 fall off at the approach of winter. The 

 cones are small, erect, somewhat egg- 

 shaped, but blunt-pointed, and the scales 

 have irregular margins : for these reasons 

 the larch is sometimes placed in a distinct 

 genus, and called Larix europcea. The 

 wood of the larch is much prized, and very 

 durable ; its bark is employed by tanners, 

 and it, as well as the trunk, affords what is 

 known as Venice turpentine, which differs 

 from most other kinds of turpentine in not 

 becoming hard by exposure to the air for a 

 considerable period. A kind of sugary mat- 

 ter exudes from the larch in summer time, 

 and is collected under the name of Manna 

 of Brian<;on. The larch attains a great 

 size, and forms a most beautiful object on 

 the mountain sides in Swizerland and other 

 Alpine districts of Europe, and is much 

 cultivated in this country for the sake of 

 its timber, while its pyramidal form, pen- 

 dent branches, light green leaves, and 

 purplish cones render it a very beautiful 

 tree for ornamental purposes. Round some 

 of the meres or lakes in Shropshire the larch 

 is abundantly planted. Its leaves fall into 

 the water, and become felted together into 

 large ball-like masses by the agency of a 

 peculiar species of Conferva. These larch 

 balls may be met with of all sizes,. from 

 that of a marble to that of a child's head ; 

 they lie at the bottom of the lake, and are 

 washed up round its margins. 



A. Cedrus, or, as it is sometimes called, 

 Cedms Libani, is the well-known Cedar of 

 Lebanon. It is principally distinguished 



