340 
CAROB BEAN, OR LOCUST. 
able, as by their reaction with hydrochloric acid they give 
rise to free chlorine, which passes over with the distillate, and 
renders it unfit for being immediately tested, either with sul- 
phuretted hydrogen or fresh copper. Cupric oxide or chlo¬ 
ride, on the other hand, is scarcely active enough for the 
purpose, while the dissolution of copper in hydrochloric acid, 
brought about by mere exposure to the air, is extremely 
tedious. 
It may be as well to add that ferric chloride is rendered 
quite free from arsenic by evaporating it once or twice to 
dryness with excess of hydrochloric acid .—Journal of Chemical 
Society. 
THE CAROB BEAN, OR LOCUST. 
This famous plant, the Ceratonia Siliqua of botanists, 
though known for the nutritious properties of its pods more 
than 2000 years ago, is only just coming into general use as 
food for cattle. The carob tree is a remarkable plant, 
growing to the height of about fifteen feet, and is found wild 
in the countries skirting the Mediterranean, especially the 
Levant. At Malta it is almost the only tree that grows, 
relieving the monotonous appearance of the white stone 
inclosures by its dark-green foliage. It belongs to the 
natural order of the Leguminosae, amongst which it is sin¬ 
gular for the very unusual circumstance of its flowers having 
no petals. The pods contain a sweet nutritious pulp, and 
have lately become common in the fruit shops; they are a 
common article of food in the countries where the tree grows 
wild; and at the present day are sent from Palestine to 
Alexandria in shiploads, and from thence across the Medi¬ 
terranean, as far as Constantinople, where they are sold in 
all the shops. The pulp resembles manna in taste and con¬ 
sistence, and it is sometimes used as sugar to preserve other 
substances. But the circumstance, of all others, which has 
rendered it famous, is the celebrated controversy as to 
whether it w 7 as not the real food of St. John in the wil¬ 
derness ; be this as it may, it certainly goes by the name 
of “ St. John’s Bread ” in the wilderness of Palestine to 
this day, where it grows in great abundance, and where its 
produce is commonly used as food. It is also, by some, 
thought to be the plant alluded to by our Saviour in the 
parable of the Prodigal Son, as “ the husks that the swine 
