15S 
MISCELLANY. 
upon stones or the limbs of iron-like trees- This friend related an amusing 
incident of which he had been witness, where the monkey, forgetful of 
every thing else^ pounding down the nut with might and main, in a fervor 
of excitement, struck it with tremendous force upon the tip of his tail. 
Down dropped the nut and away flew monkey, bounding and howling 
fearfully. How long the victim was laid up by his lame tail our friend was 
unable to inform us; but we thought one thing certain, that monkeys 
had changed since Goldsmith's day, inasmuch as at that time, as we 
are informed, the tip of a monkey's tail was so remote from the centre 
of circulation as to be destitute of feeling. When the castanha-nuts are 
fresh they much resemble in taste the cocoa-nut, and the white milk, 
easily expressed, is no bad substitute for milk in coffee. This soon 
becomes rancid, and at last turns to oil. The nuts are exported largely 
from Para, and are said to form a very important ingredient in the 
manufacture of sperm candles. — Voyage up the Amazon. 
On the Presence of Alumina in Plants. By Prince Salm-Horstmar.— 
Much doubt has lately been thrown on the presence of alumina in 
plants. Berzelius, however, asserts that it is present in Lycopodium 
complanatum and IMlehorus nigcr. This induced the author to investi- 
gates its occurrence in these and some other plants. 
Some Lycopodium complanatum^ which had been collected in February, 
was boiled with distilled water for half an hour, the filtrate evaporated 
in a platinum dish, the yellow gummy residue incinerated, the ash 
dissolved in muriatic acid, evaporated to dryness, again dissolved in 
muriatic acid, filtered, the filtrate treated with muriate of ammonia, 
then with pure ammonia, the precipitate dissolved in a small quantity 
of muriafic acid, digested with solution of potash in excess in the pla- 
tinum dish, and filtered. The filtrate yielded a precipitateof alumina, 
on the addition of muriate of ammonia. 
0.35 grm. of the ash of the green parts of this Lycopodium were 
treated with muriatic acid, no effervescence occurred ; the solution 
was evaporated to dryness in the platinum capsule, and the mass well 
moistened with muriatic acid ] after standing some time it was dis- 
solved in water, filtered, the filtrate treated first with muriate of 
ammonia, then pure ammonia, the precipitate w^ashed, removed from 
the fiher while moist and dissolved in muriatic aci'd, treated with 
excess of caustic potash in a platinum capsule, digested with heat, 
when the greater part dissolved, it was filtered, the fihrate treated with 
silicate of potash, and heated to ebullition in a glass vessel, the washed 
precipitate dissolved while moist in muriatic acid, evaporated to dry- 
ness in platinum until the odour of chlorine 'had disappeared, 
horoughly moistened with muriatic acid, treated with water, the 
