21 2 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
flowers of the productive almond, both the sweet and the 
bitter, are much less showy than those of the unproduc- 
tive. Like most of the other nut bearing trees, the 
almond yields an oil. Between the expressed oil of bit- 
ter, and that of sweet almonds, there is little difference; 
but the bitter almond contains an essential oil, while the 
sweet almond has none. Owing to the prussic acid which 
it contains, this essential oil is found, by experiment, to 
be exceedingly poisonous; and therefore the use of bitter 
almonds should be carefully avoided in every instance 
where there is a chance that the essential oil may be sepa- 
rated in the stomach. So very violent is the poison of 
this oil, that instances are recorded of persons dying in 
consequence of drinking even a very small portion of 
spirits flavoured by it; and, in its concentrated state, it is 
probably not exceeded, in its hurtful effects, even by the 
essential oil of tobacco itself, or by any of the narcotic ve- 
getable poisons. 
According to Haller, {Hist. Plant.,) bitter almonds are 
a poison to birds and quadrupeds. 
Almond oil, (the expressed oil,) is principally obtained 
from the almonds of Valentia and Barbary; the Syrian 
almonds, usually called Jordan almonds, being preferred 
for the table. 
The Large Fruited Almond, ( var . macrocarpa ,) is 
one of the most beautiful varieties of the almond. The 
flowers are twice as large as those of the common sort, and 
remain longer in perfection: the fruit also is larger. — Ibid. 
DANGEROUS PLANT AMONG WATER- 
CRESSES. 
The procumbent water parsnip, Slum nodifiorum , is 
a dangerous plant of the umbelliferous class, which grows 
mixed with water-cresses in springs and streams. When 
not in flower, it so much resembles the latter, that it is 
with difficulty distinguished except by a botanist. Water- 
cresses are of a deeper green, and sometimes spotted with 
brown, and the extremities of the leaves are more round, 
and especially the last leaves, which are in pairs, larger 
than the others, and undulated at their edges. The water 
parsnip, on the contrary, is of a uniform green; the ends 
of its leaves are longer and narrower, conical at the ex- 
tremities, and toothed at the edges. The best method of 
knowing them well is to examine them in July, when 
their flowers are expanded, and when they may be tho- 
roughly distinguished from each other. 
[ Quarterly Journal of Science. 
From the Connecticut Mirror. 
The following lines are full of spirit. The hunters rousing to the 
chase, the scene of plaintive indolence which would keep them hack, 
the magic morning, and the inspiriting emotions which it inspires, are 
all beautifully depicted. 
THE HUNTER’S MORNING SONG. 
Away, away, to the mountains blue, 
Where the waving trees the bright clouds woo, 
We will fly on the wings of the viewless wind, 
And leave the dull, cold earth behind ; 
We will wander as wild, as gay and free, 
As a rushing wave on a stormy sea. 
Aha, Aha, that wailing cry, 
They would charm us back with Love’s lullaby, 
For little they know how the hunter’s horn, 
Will thrill through the heart in the merry morn — 
Let them shake their dull limbs, and palsied head. 
We will leave them to their sluggard’s bed. 
Away, away, how the sunbeams glance, 
From the burnished steel, and the glittering lance, 
How the morning mists are fading away, 
From the burning beams of the God of Day ; 
They linger yet, o’er the mountains curled, 
As if grieving to quit so fair a world. 
Away, away, there is joy on Earth, 
And the rosy morning laughs for mirth ; 
There is joy in the breath of the balmy air, 
As if Heaven had showered its odours there — 
There is joy on the breast of the dancing wave, 
And on the green banks that its waters lave. 
No thought of the future shall darken the brow, 
That is beaming with hope, and happiness now, 
For we leave all grief, and worldly cares, 
To the gloomy mantle that dotage wears; 
We will drink the light of the new born day, 
Till its spirit fills us, away, away. J. L. R. 
METHOD OF PREVENTING IRON AND STEEL 
FROM RUSTING. 
This easy method consists in heating the steel or 
iron until it burns the hand; then rub it with virgin or 
pure white wax. Warm it a second time so as to melt 
and divide off the wax, and rub it with a piece of cloth or 
leather until it shines well. This single operation, by 
filling all the pores of the metal, defends it completely 
from rust, even though it should be exposed to moisture. 
[Jour, de Connois. Usuelles, Jan. 1830. 
