REMARKS ON NATURE. 
93 
IIL—OBSERVATIONS ON NATURE. 
The Common St.John’s Wort, (Hypericum perforatum,) has a powerful 
lemon-like scent when rubbed, staining the fingers with dark purple, from the 
great abundance of coloured essential oil, lodged in the herbage, and even in the 
petals. As this plant was found to bleed at the slightest touch, it was supposed 
to have a healing quality, and that it became the “ balm of the Warrior’s wound,” 
giving a blood red colour to every composition, whether of a spirituous or oily 
nature, into which it entered. The common people in France and Germany ga¬ 
ther this species with great ceremony, on St. John’s Day, and hang it in their 
windows as a charm against storms, thunder, and evil spirits, mistaking the mean¬ 
ing of some medical writers, who have fancyfully given this plant the name of 
Fuga Dcemomtm , from a supposition that it was good in maniacal and hvpocon- 
driacal disorders. Formerly it was always carried about by the people of Scotland 
as a charm against witchcraft and enchantment. 
The Butter and TALLOw-Tree, (Pentadesma butyracea.)—The yellow'greasy 
juice from which this tree derives its vernacular name, is given out copiously 
when the fruit is cut or opened ; it is mixed by the natives of Sierra Leone with 
their food, but it is not used by the settlers, on account of a strong turpentine 
flavour which belongs to it. We believe that the juice is that of which the conn 
try butter, brought to the market of Freetown, is made. 
The Sugar Maple. —From this tree the inhabitants of North America make 
a very good sort of sugar, in large quantities. The juice is obtained by tapping 
the trees : warm days and frosty nights are most favourable to the plentiful dis¬ 
charge of the sap. A hole is made in the tree, in au ascending direction, by an 
augur, and a spout is introduced about half an inch, which projects from three 
to twelve inches : it is generally of sumach or elder. The sap will sometimes 
flow six weeks, according to the temperature of the weather. Troughs are placed 
under the spouts to receive the sap, which is carried every day to a large receiver, 
from which is conveyed, after being strained, to the boiler. Lime, eggs, or new' 
milk is added to the sap in order to clarify it, but clear sugar may be made without 
any of these ingredients. The sugar after being sufficiently boiled, is grained, 
clayed, and refined in the same manner as the cane sugar in the West Indies. The 
sooner the sap is boiled, the better. It should never be kept more than twenty - 
four hours. The quality of maple sugar is superior to that which is made from 
canes in the West Indies, and it deposits less sediment when dissolved in water. 
It has more the appearance of sugar-candy. 
The Common Soap Berry, (Sapindus saponaria.)—The nuts of this tree 
were formerly brought to England for buttons to w-aistcoats; some were tipped 
with gold, and others with different metals; they were very durable, as they did 
not wear, and seldom broke. The skin and pulp which surround the nuts, are 
used in America to wash linen, but it is very apt to burn and destroy it, if often 
used, being of a very acrid nature. The seed vessels, according to P. Browne, 
are very detersive and acrid; they lather freely in w ater, and will cleanse more 
linen than sixty times their weight of soap, but they are observed to corrode, or 
burn the linen in time, and the w-ater in w'hich the tops or leaves have been 
steeped or boiled, has the same quality in some degree. The seeds are round 
and hard, have a fine polish, and are frequently made into buttons and beads by 
the Spaniards. The whole plant, especially the seed-vessels, being pounded and 
steeped in ponds, rivulets, or creeks, intoxicates and kills fish. 
