3,28 JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). [Vol. III. 



now convinced, that when properly cultivated, the pome- 

 granate is not only a pleasant, but very refreshing fruit, even 

 to European taste. 



When staying with Mr. Henry Rucld for some days, a few 

 years ago, at Kadugannawa, I remember he received from his 

 cousin some cultivated pomegranates, each as large as a child's 

 head, and they were certainly a delicious fruit, equalling, I 

 should think, those which are said to be sent to Bombay from 

 Muscat and Persia. The natives are so fond of them, and 

 have such a high idea of their virtues, that to procure them 

 for a patient suffering from fever or small-pox, they have 

 been known to give from Is: 6d. to 2s. for a single fruit. 



The rind of the fruit is used by European and Native 

 doctors as a powerful astringent, and is supposed to be the 

 principal ingredient used in tanning Morocco leather. 



Tares. 



" The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which 

 sowed good seed in his field, but while men slept, his enemy 

 came and sowed tares among the wheat." (Matt. xiii. 24, 2f>.) 



The tares here referred to are supposed to be the Darnel 

 grass of Europe, the Lolium trcmiilentum, a tall grass often 

 found in corn fields resembling the wheat until both are' in 

 ear, and remarkable as one of the very feAV of the large 

 family of grasses possessed of deleterious properties. 



One of the greatest pests of the Rice grower of Ceylon 

 is a plant called in Sinhalese <$8€&>tf33 kirindi-mdnd, 

 known to us as "Job's Tears" ( Goix lachryma ) and it bears 

 such a close resmblance to the Rice plant, that I believe 

 they are undistinguishable till they bear seed. The seeds of 

 this plant are of a pale grey colour and covered by a flinty 

 shining coat. They are extensively used for bracelets, and 

 I was told by a fellow passenger from St. Helena to England, 

 that Lady Ross, tne widow of a former Governor of that 



