VARIETIES. 
377 
projects  and  new  processes  have  been  sent  to  the  Societe  d' Encouragement 
without  appearing  to  resolve  the  problem.  Asphodel,  in  this  connection, 
may  look  forward  to  a  fine  future.  According  to  Dumas,  the  quantity  of 
bulbs  of  asphodel  in  Algeria  is  enormous,  they  cover  a  space  20  leagues 
square,  and  are  so  crowded  that  clearing  them  out  is  a  great  labor. 
General  Vaillant,  who  commands  one  of  the  military  divisions  in  French 
Algeria,  states  that  the  pulp  proceeding  from  the  extraction  of  the  alcohol 
from  asphodel  may  be  used  as  food  for  hogs,  who  eat  it  without  hesitation 
and  with  advantage.  In  the  month  of  May,  June,  July,  and  August,  the 
proportion  of  the  fermentable  principle  reaches  even  12  p.  c,  nearly  the 
maximum  of  that  of  cane  sugar,  and  almost  double  that  of  beet  sugar. 
M.  Dumas  also  calls  attention  to  another  plant  more  abundant  still  in 
Algeria,  the  Scilla  marilima,  whose  large  and  dry  bulbs  are  so  crowded  in 
the  soil  that  no  space  is  left  between.  According  to  M.  Fee,  Professor  of 
Botany  in  the  Faculty  of  Medicine  of  Strasburg,  the  Scilla  affords  more  than 
30  p.  c,  of  saccharine  matter.  It  is  however  important  to  remark  that  it 
contains  also  a  bitter  principle  which  may  injure  the  alcohol. — Ibid. 
On  Bitumen  Springs  of  California. — It  is  an  interesting  fact,  which  I 
believe  is  not  generally  known,  that  there  are  numerous  places  in  the  Coast 
Mountains,  south  of  San  Francisco,  where  bitumen  exudes  from  the  ground, 
and  spreads  in  great  quantity  over  the  surface.  These  places  are  known  as 
Tar  Springs,  and  are  most  numerous  in  the  vicinity  of  Los  Angeles.  It  is 
also  common  to  meet  with  large  quantities  of  this  material  floating  on  the 
Pacific,  west  of  Los  Angeles,  and  northward  towards  Point  Conception.  I 
have  seen  it,  when,  passing  this  point,  floating  about  in  large  black  sheets 
and  masses.  They  are  probably  the  product  of  submarine  springs  ;  or  they 
may  be  floated  down  by  small  streams  from  the  interior.* 
Some  of  the  springs  that  I  examined  near  Los  Angeles  were  nothing  more 
than  overflows  of  bitumen  or  asphalt  from  a  small  aperture,  around  which 
it  had  spread  out  so  as  to  cover  a  circular  space  of  about  thirty  feet  in 
diameter.  This  had  hardened  by  exposure,  and  was  covered  and  mingled 
with  dust  and  sand,  which  quickly  adheres  to  its  clean  and  fluid  surface. 
The  outer  portions  were  hard  as  a  pavement ;  and  the  mass  was  highest 
towards  the  centre,  where  it  was  soft  and  fluid,  like  melted  pitch.  It  was 
thus  evident  that  all  the  hard  portions  had  risen  in  a  fluid  state,  and  by  the 
heat  of  the  sun  had  been  gradually  spread  out  over  the  surface.  Being 
constantly  exposed  to  the  dust,  it  had  become  so  thoroughly  incorporated 
with  the  asphalt  that  the  compound  had  all  the  consistency  of  an  artificial 
admixture. 
*  I  am  informed  by  Lieutenant  W.  P.  Trowbridge,  of  the  United  States  Engi- 
neer Corps,  that  the  channel  between  Santa  Barbara  and  the  Islands  is  sometimes 
covered  with  a  film  of  mineral  oil,  giving  to  the  surface  the  beautiful  prismatic 
hues  that  are  produced  when  oil  is  poured  on  water. 
