180 
ADVANTAGES OF STRIKING CUTTINGS IN WATER. 
In general, the more brilliant its hue the better its quality. This is laid to dry in 
the shade for a short space ; but if dried too much, a great part of its flavour is 
lost by evaporation, while it is also more apt to break in packing. On the other 
hand, if packed too moist, it either ferments or breeds worms. After being dried, 
it is packed in bags and pressed together very tightly. 
" The nutmeg. — The shell is larger and harder than that of a filbert, and could 
not in the state it was gathered, be broken without injuring the nut. On that 
account the nuts are successively dried in the sun and then by iire heat, till the 
kernel shrinks so much as to rattle in the shell, which is then easily broken. After 
this, the nuts are three times soaked in sea-water and lime ; they are then laid in a 
heap, where they heat, and get rid of their superfluous moisture by evaporation. 
This process is pursued to preserve the substance and flavour of the nut, as well as 
to destroy its vegetable power. Dry lime is the best package for nutmegs. 
" There are two varieties, the royal and the green. The royal is the largest, and 
it produces mace longer than the nut ; on the nut of the green the mace reaches 
only half way down. A good nutmeg should be large, round, and heavy, of a light 
grey colour, and finely marbled in the cross section. 
" Oil of nutmegs is obtained by pressure from the broken kernels ; a pound of 
them generally yields three ounces of oil. According to Muman's experiments, 
the oil produced is one third of the weight of nutmeg ; it is yellow, of the consist- 
ence of tallow, and of a pleasant smell. This is a fixed oil, but a transparent 
volatile oil may likewise be obtained by distillation, in the proportion of -Jj part of 
weight of nutmeg used. 
" There are other spices natives of the Moluccas^ the principal of these are 
Massoy bark, and a species of cinnamon or cassia ; but these, though much used in 
Chinese and Japanese cookery, are of inferior consequence, and nearly confined to 
the commerce of the East." 
ADVANTAGES OF STRIKING CUTTINGS IN WATER. 
The following remarks have been communicated to us by an amateur experi- 
mentalist, upon the correctness of which reliance may be placed. 
Gardeners in general despise, or affect to despise, a mode of propagating a 
great variety of herbaceous and woody plants, which, however, (in instances too 
numerous to be detailed,) is eminently successful, and attended with circumstances 
highly interesting to the philosophic mind : this shall now be described. 
It has long been known that Nerium oleander will emit roots in water, pro- 
vided the cutting be of a proper age, and the temperature of the water be raised to 
about 70 degrees, either by keeping the vessel in a warm room exposed to the 
sun's rays, or by plunging it into a warm bed of leaves, tan, &c. ; with such cer- 
tainty is the end attained, that in this one instance regular gardeners comply with 
the practice, but there they stop. 
The idea suggested by the fact above stated, led to the following observations 
and results : — • 
