276 
VARIETIES. 
two will clearly show the difference. Both are light and 
spongy ; bnt the Shola is far less delicate than the Bok- 
shung, and is always exported " peeled," the external 
coatings being removed ; whereas the Shola is always sent 
covered with its thin brown bark. A Chinese drawing of 
what is said to be the Rice-paper plant is in possession of 
Dr. Lindley; but neither flower nor fruit is represented. 
Some have conjectured this to be a Malvaceous plant, 
others Araliaceous. We have seen in the branches of the 
common fig, Ficus Carica^ a copious medulla, very much 
resembling, in its texture and pure whiteness, that of the 
Bok-shung. 
We have the gratification of knowing that our Consul at 
Amoy will use his best endeavors to procure flowering 
specimens of the plant itself. — Pharm. Journ, May 1, 
IS 50, from Hooker's Journal of Botany. 
Iridescent Paper. By A. Wagner. — Eight parts of 
gall nuts, five parts of sulphate of iron (as free from oxide 
as possible,) one part of sal ammoniac, one part of sulphate 
of indigo (blue pot,) and one-eighth part of gum arable, are 
to be boiled with water, and preserved in a well closed 
vessel. If paper washed with this decoction be exposed to 
the influence of ammoniacal gas, it becomes covered with 
colors like those of blue steel. Some tints are, however, 
easily rubbed off. The addition of sulphate of indigo in sal 
ammoniac, serves only to protect the protoxide of iron con- 
tained in the ink from a higher degree of oxidation. — 
Ibid., from Pharm. Central Blatt.Jur 1850, P. 156. 
On the Purification of Honey. By Andre V. Hirsch- 
berg. — In the Archiv. d. Pharmacie xxix. p. 30S, the fol- 
lowing method of purifying honey is recommended by 
Andre : — Twenty-five pounds of honey are to be diluted 
with half that quantity of water and boiled, with a pulp 
obtained by stirring three sheets of white blotting paper 
