IN  REGARD  TO  THE  PRESERVATION  OF  GARLIC.  187 
states,  "  With  this  species  I  am  entirely  unacquainted.  Does 
it  not  really  belong  to  the  West  Indies  ?  The  Hercules  club  of 
our  negroes  and  countrymen  is,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
ascertain,  the  Aralia  Spinosa." 
The  specimens  sent  by  Mr.  Heyser,  and  portions  of  bark 
(derived  partly  from  an  older  tree)  in  the  cabinet  of  the  College, 
agree  so  well  with  the  characters  given  by  Catesby  and  Sloane, 
that  but  few  additional  remarks  are  required.  The  Beaufort 
specimens  consist  of  branches  varying  from  three  inches  to 
three  lines  in  diameter.  The  bark  adheres  strongly  to  the 
wood,  is  thin  and  brittle,  and  the  protuberances  on  the  large 
branches  are  surmounted  by  the  remains  of  the  thorns.  The 
thorns  on  the  young  branches  are  of  a  brown  color,  shining, 
very  sharp,  mostly  straight,  with  a  large  base.  On  the  large 
branches  they  appear  weathered,  having  lost  their  color,  polish 
and  acuteness.  In  the  bark  of  greater  age,  the  spines  are  lost 
and  the  protuberances  alone  remain.  These  appear  to  be 
formed  of  successive  annual  layers  of  corky  substance,  gradu- 
ally increasing  in  diameter  towards  the  base,  which  is  some- 
times nearly  diamond-shaped,  the  longest  diameter  most  usu- 
ally longitudinal  to  the  branches,  but  occasionally  transverse. 
In  thickness  the  bark  (College  specimen)  varies  from  that  of 
writing  paper  to  one-sixth  of  an  inch.  Its  pungency  is  greater 
than  that  of  the  Northern  prickly  ash. — Proc.  Amer.  Pharm. 
Assoc.,  1864. 
IN  REGARD  TO  THE  PRESERVATION  OF  GARLIC. 
By  A.  P.  Sharp. 
In  accepting  this  query  it  was  not  with  the  expectation  of 
making  any  extensive  experiments  in  regard  to  the  subject  re- 
ferred to,  but  more  especially  to  propose  to  the  Association  the 
plan  I  have  pursued  for  some  years  to  protect  the  bulblets  against 
the  germination  which  is  so  fatal  to  the  virtues  of  the  plant  as  a 
medical  agent.  At  the  proper  season  I  carefully  select  the 
quantity  needed,  and  after  depriving  them  of  their  superfluous 
Jeaves,  stems,  &c,  place  them  in  a  bottle  which  is  securely  closed 
with  either  glass  or  cork  stopper,  and  pour  upon  them  a  small 
