Miscellaneous. 



307 



great advantages which it confers upon the whole body of speculative 

 and practical sciences. It is hoped that the invitation to scientific fo- 

 reigners will prove not less effectual, as the estimation in which they 

 hold Italian science is a pledge that they will be anxious to witness all 

 that Italy has done and is doing, and to afford their co-operation in the 

 noble undertaking. 



A future advertisement will announce the final and special arrange- 

 ments for the meeting and for the accommodation of those who may 

 attend it. In the mean time, it is satisfactory to state that there 

 have been elected to the office of Assessors, Prof. Gaetano Georgini, 

 Superintendent of the Studies of the Grand Duchy, and Cav. Giuseppe 

 Gazzeri, Prof, in the University of Pisa. — Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. 



Florence, Dec. 28, 1840. 

 The President General, The Secretary General, 



Marchese Cosimo Ridolfi. Cav. Ferdinando Tarturi. 



Dr. Lush on the Madi, or Chili Oil-seed, Madia sativa. 

 " We insert a paper by Dr. Lush, of the Medical Establishment of this 

 Presidency, which brings to notice a new seed, called the ' Madi, or Chili 

 Oil-seed,' which promises to be a valuable adjunct to the plants of that 

 class in this country. It appears to flourish in a high and dry land, 

 and will probably succeed in the Deccan and Southern Mahratta 

 country. Dr. Lush has presented it to the Agricultural and Horti- 

 cultural Society in Bombay, by whom it will be tested, and its uses 

 fully developed. 



"The demand which now exists for oil-seeds from British India 

 has caused much attention to be drawn towards such products as 

 may be raised in sufficient quantities, and at such a price, as may 

 ensure them a permanent place among Indian exports to England. 

 On the western side, or the districts under Bombay, we find, that for 

 field produce as oil-seeds we must look out for such articles of cul- 

 tivation as will not require irrigation, seeing that the sesamum, the 

 kerday, the linseed, and the castor-oil are all produced in different 

 districts of our Presidency as dry crops. Besides those already men- 

 tioned, we find a quickly-growing plant in the Deccan, sown usually 

 with the ordinary crops of bajree and pulse; viz. the Verbesina sativa 

 (since called Guizotia oleifera), or Black Til. This plant is valuable to 

 the natives from its quick and hardy growth in a dry climate and 

 scanty monsoon ; but from the small quantity of oil in proportion to 

 the bulk, and the inferior quality of that oil, it is not a plant likely 

 to attract attention beyond local wants. 



