THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, June 28, 1857. 183 
especially that of urine. It has been recommended in palsy/ 
chronic rheumatism, dropsical complaints, and in cases of 
enfeebled digestion; but its chief use is as a condiment to 
promote appetite, and to excite the digestive organs. The 
virtues of Horse-radish depend upon a volatile oil, which is 
dissipated in drying, and they may be imparted to water and 
to alcohol. The oil, which may be obtained by distillation with 
water, is colourless, or pale yellow, heavier than water, very 
volatile, excessively pungent, acrid, and corrosive, exciting 
inflammation and even blisters on the skin; it is partly 
soluble in water, to which it communicates the inflammatory 
j properties, and is quite soluble in alcohol; but when the root 
j is distilled with alcohol no oil is obtained. It contains sulphur 
! to the extent of thirty per cent, in the number of its elements, 
and it is to the presence of this body in Horse-radish that 
the metal vessels in which it is distilled are turned to a 
black colour. It is one of the most powerful excitants and 
| antiscorbutics which we have, and forms the basis of several 
| medical antiscorbutic preparations, in the form of syrups, 
i wines, and tinctures. The Common Scurvy Grass is also a 
j powerful antiscorbutic. It possesses the greatest vigour 
when it is coming into flower, for then its leaves are charged 
with an acrid and pungent juice, which, when the plant is 
bruised, gives out a volatile and irritant exhalation. Scurvy 
Grass contains the same acrid, sulphureous oil which exists 
in Horse-radish, and is almost always applied either with or 
to the same purpose as that is. 
“ THLASPIDJS.—This tribe, which contains the little 
Shepherd's Purse , an abundant and troublesome weed in 
most gardens, presents us also with the gay and fragrant 
Candytufts of our annual flower borders. It does not furnish 
many plants remarkable either for their economical or 
medicinal properties, the only instance being Iberis amara , 
or Bitter Candytuft , which is a small annual plant common 
in the corn-fields of this country. The root, stem, and 
leaves, are said to possess medicinal properties, but the 
greatest virtue rests in the seed. In large doses it produces 
giddiness, nausea, and diarrhoea, but its virtues do not seem 
to be associated with any perceptible physiological effect. 
It is thought to exercise a happy influence over the excited 
actions of the heart, and is especially useful in hypertrophy; 
but much advantage is said to have accrued from it in 
asthma, bronchitis, and dropsy. The dose of the seed is 
from one to two grains. 
“ ANASTATICEA3.—The remarkable plant which is the 
type of this tribe grows in the arid wastes of Egypt, Pales¬ 
tine, and Barbary; on the roofs of houses, and among 
rubbish in Syiia; and on the sandy deserts of Arabia. It 
is Anastatica hierochuntica , the Rose of Jericho, which the 
monks of old invested with such miraculous powers, and 
which the people regarded with such superstitious venera¬ 
tion. The plant is small, bushy, and not above six inches 
high ; after it has flowered, the leaves fall off, the branches 
and branchlets dry and shrivel up, incurving towards the 
centre^ and, in fact, forming the plant into a sort of ball. 
They are easily uprooted from the sand by the winds, and 
are carried, blown and tossed, across the desert into the sea. 
When they come in contact with the water the plant unfolds 
itself, the branches are expanded, the seed-vessels open and 
relieve the seeds, which are conveyed by the tide, and de¬ 
posited again on the shore. They are earned hence by the 
winds away into the desert again, and there they take root, 
producing plants, which, in their turn, perform the same 
strange part in the economy of creation. It was to this 
property of expanding when placed in contact with moisture 
which induced the miraculous and superstitious importance 
of the plant, and it was believed that this appearance always 
took place on the anniversary of the birth of our Blessed 
Saviour. The plant may be kept for years if taken up 
before it is withered, and then preserved in a dry room ; at 
any time when the root is put in a glass of water, or the 
whole plant immersed, it will expand, and, in the course of 
a few hours, the buds of flowers will swell, and appear as if 
newly taken from the ground. It is called, also, Rosa 
Marine. 
“ SISYMBRIEiE.—In this tribe we have the pretty little 
Virginian Stock (Malcoma maritima), so gay and yet so 
modest, whether smiling on the window-sill of a smoke- 
wreathed tenement of our large towns, or edging the ap¬ 
proach to some happy home, fragrant with Honeysuckles 
and Clematis, in the quiet retirement of a country lane. 
Here we have also the White Rockets , or Dame's Violets 
(Hesperis matronalis), and the Night-scented Rocket (II. 
tristis). 
“ Sisymbrium officinale, or Hedge-mustard, is not so acrid 
or pungent as the great part of the Cruciferse—its leaves 
being rather bitter and astringent, and employed in infusion 
for pulmonary catarrh. The herb is said to be diuretic and 
expectorant, and has been recommended in chronic coughs, 
hoarseness, and ulcerations of the mouth and fauces. S. 
Irio , or London Rocket, has the hot flavour of mustard. S. 
Sophia , or Flix-weed, is of a pungent odour, and an acrid, 
bitter taste. It was formerly given in dysenteries and hys¬ 
terical cases, and the seeds were considered as a vermifuge. 
The seeds, mixed to the extent of one-tenth part of the 
other ingredients, are said to augment the force of gun¬ 
powder. 
“ Erysimum alliaria, commonly called Jack-by-the-hedge, 
or Sauce alone, emits from all its parts, and particularly from 
the seeds, a strong odour of garlic. It was formerly used 
by the country-people in sauces, along with salted meat, 
with bread and butter, and in salads ; and therefore called 
‘ Sauce alone.’ It is found growing by the sides of hedges, 
and hence the origin of the other name. Although it is now 
almost totally disregarded, it may be used with considerable 
advantage. The late Dr. Neill states that ‘ when gathered 
as it approaches the flowering state, boiled separately, and 
then eaten to boiled mutton, it certainly forms a most 
desirable pot-herb; and to any kind of salted meat an ex¬ 
cellent green.’ ” 
(To be continued.) 
ON SMALL DRONES. 
In our experience in bee-keeping we have never seen a 
“ small drone,” that is, one under the common size. There 
seems, however, to be a belief that there are such, and we 
think that Huish mentions it. We state this with diffidence, 
not having his book at hand to refer to. Still we recollect 
being told by an old friend that he had seen small drones, 
and that he thought they were bred in the cells of workers. 
As ray friend had had much experience in bees, and was, 
indeed, a sort of Bonnar, by having kept them in the heart of 
a large town, we could rely on what he said; but if such be 
the case it must be of rare occurrence, for the thing seems 
to be little known. We certainly have seen a queen deposit¬ 
ing eggs in the cells of workers, and quickly do the same in 
those of drones. Now, if she happened to lay an egg to 
produce a male in one of the former the insect produced 
from it must be small, for the larva had not room enough 
for its proper growth. I should state that bees, like all 
other insects which are produced from grubs, never increase 
in size after they are perfect insects; consequently all such, 
however large or small, have their real growth in the larva 
state; but in the case of the hive bees the cells are so exactly 
of a size that the insects must of necessity be the same. Not 
so our wild bees. These may be found in the nests varying 
in size from that of a pea to the large queen bees, or of more 
or less bulk according to the different sizes of the cells. We 
think that what has been said in these pages lately respect¬ 
ing the larvse of workers producing queens when the cells 
were enlarged is very much in favour of what we have said 
of small drones being produced in common cells. However, 
be it as it may, as this is the time when drones are plentiful, 
perhaps those who take an interest in the subject will look 
out for a small one, and secure it.—J. Wighton. 
RUSTIC FURNITURE. 
The reason why we so seldom see good examples of rustic 
furniture is because the makers of this sort of work are, 
generally speaking, 3, set of miserable incapables. Take a 
turn anywhere about the suburbs of London at this season, 
and you will see here and there on the roadsides little col¬ 
lections of lop-sided, splay-footed, bandy, bow-legged, and 
broken-backed specimens of tables, baskets, garden seats, 
and little vases at the top of broomsticks, from any hundred 
