HARD OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 205 



the under side. It is a native of tlie Malayan Peninsula, Borneo, 

 and other islands. It contains a milkj juice, which forms Gutta- 

 percha. This substance came into special notice in 1845, and 

 its important uses soon became obvious, and led to a great 

 demand for the article, to meet which the natives cut down the 

 trees. It is consequently now extinct in Singapore, from whence 

 it was first obtained ; and if precaution is not taken by Govern- 

 ment it will in time become extinct in other localities. The 

 numerous uses to which Gutta-percha is applied are well known ; 

 the most important is for covering the electric wires of telegraph 

 cables, it being a perfect insulator, and it is also said to be inde- 

 structible under water. A number of other trees of this family 

 yield Gutta-percha in varying abundance and quality. The best 

 is obtained from Mimusops gloiosa, a large tree, native of British 

 Guiana, and apparently also of Surinam, and called Ballata. It 

 is imported in fluctuating quantities from British Guiana, and con- 

 sidered equal to the best Gutta-percha of the East. The total 

 quantity imported in 1880 was 63,334 cwts., valued at £529,452. 



Hag or High Taper. (See Mullein.) 



Hand-flower Tree (Gheirostemon ;platanoides), a large tree 

 of the Silk Cotton family (Bombaceas), a native of Guatemala, 

 but first known by a single tree of great size growing near the 

 city of Mexico. It has a soft-wooded stem and heart-shaped lobed 

 leaves, and is remarkable for the stamens being flesh-coloured, 

 and so united and turned to one side of the flower that they 

 bear some resemblance to an infant's hand, hence its name. 



Hard or Goat Grass, the name given to species of JSgilops, 

 of which there are six recorded as natives of the South of 

 Europe. They are annual grasses of dwarf habit and harsh 

 nature, and although extremely unlike wheat, they are neverthe- 

 less, according to the Darwinian theory of the origin of species, 

 supposed to have during the lapse of time, either by natural 

 agency or artificial cultivation, assumed the character of culti- 

 vated wheat. This is in some degree proved by experiments 

 carried on for a number of years by M, Eabre in France, and in 

 this country by the Agricultural Society in their College Garden 



