| May, 1900.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 383 
}"eds by steaming and pressing, and is used in China for oiling boats and wood- 
Tork, Itis reckoned a valuable external application in cases of itch and herpes; 
also used in chronic rheumatism and for burning inlamps. The milky juice 
iled with oxide of iron makes a fine black yarnish.— Cyclo. of India, ii., 425. 
According to Dr. Christison, in “ Drury’s Useful Plants of India,” twelve 
fifteen drops of the oil are equal to 1 oz. of castor oil. The juice of the 
[Hlant, he states, has been applied externally in hoemorrhoids. 
| Itis recorded that at one time the seeds of this dangerous poison plant were 
“Ported from the Cape de Verde Island to Portugal to the extent of about 
0,000 bushels a year for the expression of the oil. Before expression, the 
a are slightly roasted and crushed, when the shells are easily removed. One 
usand pounds of the seeds yield 640 lb. of the kernel, which give about 260 
|°cf oil. From Portugal the oil appears to find its way to France, where it is 
|"pposed to be used in the manufacture of transparent soap. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE. 
Male flower. 14. Ovary and styles. 
Be vertical section. 14=. ,, transverse section. 
Female flower. ihe, Asie 
Rf vertical section. 17|. », vertical section. 
Stamens. 18p|. Seed. > 
. Anther and part of filament. Sp. ,, vertical section. 
Pollen grains. 20. Embryo. 
From Mart. Flora Brasiliensis. 
THE FRENCH VINTAGE IN 1899. 
bmn Moniteur Vinicole publishes the official return, as prepared by the Com- 
‘ssioners of Indirect Taxes, of the French vintage in 1899. ‘The acreage 
: hted in vines shows an increase in thirty-two departments, but the total 
vtficies is about 21,000 acres less than m 1898, being now given at 4,244,335. 
| @es, The total production of wine last year was 1,079,613,800 gallons, which 
} ees an average of 247 gallons per acre, or 81 more than in 1898. This is, 
¥ far as quantity is concerned, the most abundant vintage in France since 1893, 
Then the total was about 1,130,000,000 gallons, and it is estimated that, so far 
| {duality goes, the wine will be of about the same alcoholic strength as in 1898. 
“cording to the estimates made in each department, the total value of the wine 
th de in 1899 is about £49,975,000, and of this sum only £4,576,000 represents 
© value of the better-class wines, which are for the most part exported. 
ts The average production of wine in France for the last ten years has been 
i,°:860,000 gallons, and the Moniteur Vinicole compares this with the pro- 
) Action of other European countries, as follows :— 
| { 
Avera Average 
Country. Prcatchicnt | Country. iemiiin 
| 
| - rere j | 
ih, Gallons. | é Gallons. 
Bae Rohl aie 753,660,000 | Austro-Hungary pal 63,000,000 
in M aiiveieek = amihe 697,500,000 German yaeeieee a mmmets 42,750,000 
| fe n et tr wie 540,000,000 | Turkey and Cyprus... 42,000,000 
“By uania hie deoun 135,000,000 Greece Soren | 33,750,000 
Beeetia us 32,380,000 Senviatueiess vate’ cage &| 24,750,000 
wee 73,125,000 Switzerland 0... 7,965,000 
Metra 72,000,000 } | 
