232 Collectiovs anJ Recollections. 
lowed to dry in the shade, and placed in hiyers, in large pots or vessels, where 
they nuist remuiu fifteen days. The older these are the more their quality improves. 
Three kinds of tliein are made: — the first, which is the most common, is made ac- 
cording; to tlie proportions above •, the second with four parts potatoes, and two 
parts curdled milk ; the third, two parts potatoes, and four parts cow or ewe !iiilk. 
These cheeses iiave tliis advantag-e over every other kind, tiiat they do not engen- 
der worms, and keep fresh a great number of years, provided they are placed iu a 
dry situation, and in well closed vessels. — Quurlerli/ Journal. 
Elder Berries. — M. Aloy's Wehrl, of Vienna, has found by a series of experi- 
ments, that the berries of the Elder Tree produce a much greater quantity of 
spirit than the best wheat. The spirit is obtained by pressing the berries, and the 
juice is treated in the same wuy as the must of the grape, and afterwards distilled 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
W.4X Palm. — Tiie Ceroxylon, a species of Palm, so called from its singular pro- 
perty of affording wax, is only found on the mountains of Quindiu, in South 
America. Tropical plants in general, do not vegetate at a greater height than 
500 toises above the level of the sea ; it is .singular, therefore, that the Wax Pahn 
is never found below 9U0, and that it grows in great profusion at 1,450 toises, 
when the mean temperature is from 66 to 68 deg. Fahrenheit. It sometimes also 
springs up and thrives in regions 1,000 toises higher, and in a temperature 3!) de- 
grees below that in which any other of the same tribe or family are to he found. 
The Wax Palm rises to the prodigious height of 180 feet, and its leaves are 20 feet 
in length. A remarkable circumstance in this tree, is the secreted matter with 
which its trunk is covered, to the thickness of near'y two inches. This substance, 
according to the analysis of Vanquelin, consists of two-thirds of resin, and one of 
wax. Being extremely inflantniahle, it is employed by the natives, in conjunction 
with one-third of tallow, in the manufacture of candles. 
July 30, 1831. W. Mc. M. 
Redstart. — Gentlemen, a circumstance occurred in May last, at Stoke Hall, 
near Bakewell, the seat of Robert Arkwright, Esq., which, from its singularity, 
I am inclined to make known through the medium of the Horticultural Register, 
to your Ornithological readers. A pair of Redstarts, (^Sylvia Phwnictirus, ) had 
been constantly observed for a considerable time in the neighbourhood of the 
Apiary, but without the slightest idea on our parts, of their reasons for .so long- 
frequenting the place, until one day having occasion to lift up a hive that stood 
unoccupied, amongst the rest, we were not a little surprised to find a nest con- 
structed, and in this nest, amidst the hum of the busy throng, they actually rerred 
tiieir young. J. H. 
An Adder and its Eggs. — In August, 1830, on the coast of Essex, an Adder 
was takea two feet five inches long, and of an extraordinary bulk. On opening 
its body, a string of fourteen eggs was discovered; in each egg was a young 
adder, perfectly formed, and enveloped in a glutinous fluid. These little, crea- 
tures were lively, and seemed to evince an inclination to bite, all that were 
taken out of the eggs, however, soon died, whilst those which remained with 
the envelope unbroken, continued to live, and were active, many hours; and, 
adds the writer, would probably have lived a long time, had they been left 
undisturbed. The heart of the parent animal was observed to beat with but 
little abatement for an hour after its extraction ; the palpitations then became 
less rapid, and inhalf-an-hour more entirely ceased, apparently less from want 
