960 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[May 25, 1372. 
vesca, is not large, and has scarcely ever reached an im¬ 
port of 70,000 bushels. In the three years ending 1S31 
the average wa3 21,000, and they then paid a duty of 2$. 
a bushel. In 1842 the imports were 34,000 bushels. In 
1855 the imports had advanced to nearly 67,000 bushels, 
but they have since lluctuated and declined. Of the im¬ 
ports in 1870 (31,767 bushels), about half came from 
France, and the remainder from Portugal and Spain. 
They are valued at 11s. to 17s. a bushel, those from the 
Peninsula being considered the best. The local consump¬ 
tion of chestnuts in France is said to be about six million 
bushels annually. In Spain, Corsica, and the North of 
Italy, they form an important article of food, and serve 
in a great measure as a substitute for potatoes and bread. 
The best are those which permit of being kept good for 
several months. This is done by preserving them in 
layers of straw or in sand. In parts of France and 
Corsica the fruit is husked and dried. 
The kernel of the Tahiti chestnut (Inocarpus eclulin), 
which is kidney-shaped, and about an inch in diameter, is 
eaten when roasted by the Pacific Islanders, and in 
New Guinea and the Moluccas. It is sweetish, but 
less pleasant than the chestnut, harder and not so 
farinaceous. 
The large and handsome seeds of the Moreton Bay 
chestnut (Castanospernum Australe) are eaten by the 
natives in Queensland, but Europeans assert that they 
are hard, astringent, and not at all better than acorns. 
A good starch has, however, been made from them. 
The almond is one of our important edible nuts of com¬ 
merce. Prior to 1832, when the duty was reduced, the 
consumption of almonds, here, was only about 3000 cwt.; 
in 1836 it had sprung up to 8000 cwt., and now it has 
reached about 43,000 cwt., an evidence of the progress 
of commerce and the advantages of lower prices, for in 
1839 the prices of the best Jordan were £9 to £10 per 
cwt. ; Valencia, £4 to £10 ; and Barbary bitter, £2. 10$. 
Now the best Spanish are about £6. 10$.; other sweet 
kinds, £3 to £4, and Barbary bitter, £2. 10$. The im¬ 
ports in 1860 were 7361 cwt. of bitter almonds, and 
19,631 cwt. of sweet almonds. In 1870 the imports of 
bitter were about the same, but of sweet the quantity was 
36,189 cwt. The Valencia almonds are the largest and 
broadest in the kernel of any. The Jordans, which come 
from Malaga, are longer and narrower, with a more 
pointed kernel, about an inch long. The Barbary sweet 
and bitter are both small, irregular-shaped almonds. 
The Sicily almonds, although small, are larger and 
plumper than the Barbary. 
The study of, cultivation, and commerce in almonds is 
one of considerable importance, for the fruit enters largely 
into domestic and other uses, forming a principal ingredient 
in cookery, medicine, and trade. The Provence almonds 
ot France are soft-shelled, sold ordinarily in the shell. 
The “Princesses,” consumed in Franco, Belgium, Hol¬ 
land, Germany, and Russia ; the “ Ladie 3 ,” sent chiefly 
to the United States; wavy almonds, which keep the 
best, and realize double the prices of the ordinary varieties. 
These are principally used in confectionery, as burnt 
almonds, and for fine pastry. The bitter almonds are 
used in the preparation of liqueurs, macaroons, and 
different medicinal compounds. A bland oil is expressed 
from almonds, which is used in medicine. It is obtained 
alike from the sweet and bitter varieties, and is of the 
specific gravity *915, of a pale yellow colour, but becomes 
colourless when long exposed to the light. It soon 
grows rancid. It is so plentiful, that 5} lb. of almonds 
have yielded 1 lb. 6 oz. of oil by cold extraction, and j lb. 
more on heating them. 
Ti.e Brazil nuts of commerce, called castanhas in 
Brazil, are the seeds of Bertholletia cxcslsa. About twenty 
of those nuts are contained in cells, within a hard spheri¬ 
cal capsule. They form a delicious fruit when fresh, 
and also yield a large quantity of oil. One pound of 
nuts will afford 10 ounces of a pleasant, bland, clear, 
yellow oil, which might be furnished in abundance to 
the maikets of the world. It has a great tendency to 
change if kept, but is used for culinary purposes when 
fresh. About 90,000 bushels, valued at £36,500, ai'e 
annually shipped from Para, and they arrive in bulk in 
small schooners. The first arrivals will often fetch about 
42$. per barrel of 3|- bushels. 
The nuts in the drupe of the Fistacia vera and its 
varieties, natives of Syria, are imported in small quanti¬ 
ties here, shelled or uashellcd. The pale green kernels 
have a flavour like sweet almonds, and are used as a 
dessert fruit in cooking and in confectionery. Although 
they are not now enumerated in the Board of Trade re¬ 
turns, in 1855 we imported 3210 cwt. of these nuts. 
The imports are, however, much less than this now. On 
the Continent and in Turkey jnstachio nuts are much 
esteemed. From Aleppo the exports are about 1300 
cwt. yearly. One of our largo West-End perfumers 
(Piesse and Lubin) make large use of the pistachio nut 
in its meal, much recommended as a substitute for soap, 
pistachio-nut soap, and pistachio oil for the hair, which 
is said to be used in Spain for the raven tresses alike of 
the mountain peasant and the court beauty; and a powder 
and milky emulsion for the complexion are also made 
from it. 
Pine seeds are an edible nut in very many countries. 
Those of the stone pine {Finns pinea) are largely used at 
dessert wdth wine in Italy, under the name of pine nuts. 
They are brought to market at Lisbon, strung upon 
threads like beads, and suspended upon a girdle round 
the waist. The seeds of Lambert’s pine, in North 
America, of Slave’s pine, in Mexico, and of Gerard’s- 
pine, in Thibet and Affghanistan, are also eatable when 
fresh. In Switzerland the seeds of the Siberian stone 
pine are used in some places as food, and in others as an 
article ofluxuiy. The shell being very hard, and re¬ 
quiring time and skill to separate it from the kernel, the 
doing so forms an amusement for some persons in the 
long wdnter evenings. The pinones of the imbricated- 
leaved pine of Chili are a chief article of consumption 
among the Indian tribes. As the seeds will keep long, 
they are often imported into the southern districts of 
Chili from the Cordilleras, and when boiled are eaten by 
the country people either hot or cold. The seeds are 
bui'ied in pits by the Indians for winter use. Another 
species of Araucaria, whose fruit is called bunya-bunya 
by the natives, forms the principal article of their food 
in Northern Australia. The cone is very large, nine te 
twelve inches in length by nine inches in diameter. The- 
seeds, which are readily shed, are from two to two and 
a-half inches long by three-quartei’S of an inch bi'Oad, 
sweet before they are perfectly ripe, and after that 
resemble roasted chestnuts in taste. 
The seeds of the cone3 of Finns monophyllus, of the 
Rocky Mountains, constitute the principal subsistence of 
some of the Indian tribes. 
{To be continued.) 

Sale of Vermin' Poisons. 
On Thursday, May 10, Mr. F. Price, coroner, held an 
inquest at Salford, concerning the death of Mary Hughes, 
aged 28 years, who died on Tuesday from taking some 
of “Gibson’s Manchester Vermin Killer,” which she- 
had purchased at the shop of Mr. R. Duncalfe, chemist* 
Swan Street, Manchester, on the same day. The jury- 
appended a recommendation to their verdict that greater 
restrictions should be placed on the sale of vermin powder 
containing poison. The coroner intimated that he had 
already communicated with the Pharmaceutical Society 
on the subject, and he would see that the suggcstiQn of 
the jury should be forwarded to that Society and to the.- 
Home Secretary .—Manchester Courier. 
