232 
Collections aivl Recollections. 
lowed to dry in the slmde, and placed in hiyers, in large pots or vessels, where 
they must remain fifteen days. The older these are the more their quality improves. 
Three kinds of them are made:—the first, which is the most common, is made ac¬ 
cording to the proportions above 5 the second with four parts potatoes, and two 
parts curdled mi'k ; the third, two parts potatoes, and four parts cow or ewe milk. 
These cheeses have this advantage over every other kind, that they do not engen¬ 
der worms, and keep fresh a great number of years, provided they are placed in a 
dry situation, and in well closed vessels .—(Quarterly 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 s;\me way as the must of the grape, and afterwards distil led _ 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
Wax Palm. —The 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 Palm 
is never found below 900, and that it grows in great profusion at 1,450 toise.s, 
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 30 de¬ 
grees below that in which any other of the same tribe or family are to be found. 
1'be 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 nearly two inches. This substance, 
according to the analysis of Vanquelin, consists of two-thirds of resin, and one of 
wax. Being extremely inflammable, it is employed by the natives, in conjunction 
with one-third of tallow, in the manufacture of candles. 
July^O, 1831. W. Me. 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 yoTir Ornithological readers. A pair of Redstarts, (^Sylvia Phwnicurus, ) 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 reared 
tlieir young. J. H. 
An Adder and i rs Eggs. —In August, 1830, on the coast of Esse-:;, an Adder 
was taken 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 eyveloped 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 j 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 in half-an-houv more entirely ceased, apparently less from want 
