64 



8. The use of sewage for fertilizing purposes is not to be commended, 

 because of the dangerof contaminating the s >il with p ithogenic ferments 

 which may subsequently infect the health of man and beast. These fer- 

 ments may attach themselves to plants and thus ener the animal 

 organism, or they may remain with a suspended vitality for an indefinite 

 period in the soil and awaken to pernicious activity when a favourable 

 environment is secured. 



9. The stuiy of the nitrifying organisms in the soil and their culture 

 and isolation will in the end prove of great benefit to practical agricul- 

 ture by showing the method in which favouringorganismscan be fostered 

 and the activity of the inimical organisms reduced to a minimum. 



NOTES ON PLANTS IN CASTLETON GARDENS. 



Pterospermum acerifoltum, Willd. — A tall tree found in the sub- 

 Himalayan tract as far east as Burma. The down on the leaves is used 

 by the hill-people in Sikkim to stop bleeding in wounds. In the 

 Konkan the flowers and b irk, charred and mixed with Kamala powder, 

 are applied in suppurating small- pox. In Bombay and J3engal the 

 leaves are employed as plates, and for packing tobacco. The flowers 

 are used by Bengalis as a disinfectant and to keep insects away from 

 bed-clothes, etc. ; they are also said to render water gelatinous. 



The wood is occasionally used for planking in Bengal, and it is said 

 to take a fine polish, and to be suitable, for making furniture. 



Other species from India growing in the Gardens are Pterosper- 

 mum lancsefolium and P. Heyneanum, ( Sterculiacece ). 



Garcinia inihca, Chois. — A slender tree with drooping branches, 

 found on the Ghats of the Konkam and Kandra It bears a conspicuous 

 spherical purple fruit, the size of a small orange, which ripens about April. 



Oil. — A valuable oil called " Cocum" or " Kokam butter," " Mangos- 

 teen oil," or " Brindonia tallow," is obtained from the seeds of the 

 fruit to the extent of about 30 per oent. Kokan butter has been em- 

 ployed by the natives, of at least south-western India, since remote 

 times, but it does not appear to have attracted the notice of Europeans 

 till about the year 1830. It is considered demulcent, nutrient, and 

 emollient. One writer states, " I have used it internally in my prac- 

 tice, and have found that its best medicinal properties are its usefulness 

 in phthisis pulmonalis and some scrofulous diseases, and in dysentry and 

 mucous diarrhoea." 



The purple fruit has an agreeable flavour, and has long been esteemed 

 as an article of diet. — (Guttifera?). 



Mimtjsops Elengi Linn. — An evergreen tree, frequently cultivated in 

 India, wild in the Deccan and Malay Peninsulas. It is cultivated for 

 its ornamental appearance, and its fragrant flowers. The latter are 

 valued for making garlands, are sometimes used for stuffing pillows 

 and the atter distilled from them is esteemed as a perfume. Prom the 

 seeds a fixed oil is obtained by expression, which is used for culinary 

 purposes, for burning and for medicine. 



The wood is close and even-grained, pinkish to reddish-brown in 

 colour, and takes a good polish. It is used in house-building, for cart 

 shafts and cabinetwork, and is said to last for fifty years. — (Sapotacece). 

 Averrhoa Carambola, Linn. — The Carambola of the East Indies 



