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known. This oil can well be chosen as a means of providhig
a pleasant substitute for milk during sea voyages, &c., by
mixing, when requmed, with it half its weight of powdered
gum arabie, and adding then successively, while quickly
agitating in a stone mortar, about double tbe quantity of
water. Thus a palatable and wholesome sort of cream for tea
or coffee is obtained at any moment. There exist hard and
soft-shelled varieties of both the sweet and bitter Almond.
In time, they should form an important article of our exports.
Almonds can even be grown on sea shores. The crystalline
Amygdalin can best be prepared from bitter Almonds,
through removing tbe oil by pressure, then subjecting them
to distillation with alcohol, and finally precipitating with
ether. The volatile bitter Almond-oil—a very dangerous
substance —-is obtained by aqueous distillation. Dissolved bi
alcohol, it forms the Essence of Almonds. This can also be
prepared from peach-kernels.
Prunus Caroliniana, Aiton.
Southern States of North America. Porcher regards it as
one of the most beautiful and manageable evergreens of tbose
States. I t can be cut into any shape, and is much employed
for quick and dense hedges. I t can be grown on coast-land.
Prunus Chisasa, Michaux.
North America, west of tbe Mississippi. On the prairies it
is only three to four feet high. Fruit spherical, red, rather small,
with a tender usually agreeable pulp. Other species with
edible fruit occur in North America, such as P. pumila, L.,
P. Pennsylvanica (L.), P. Virginiana (L.), P. serótina
(Ebrli.), but tlieir fruits are too small to render these plants
of importance for orchard-culture, though they may also
become enlarged by artificial treatment.
Prunus ilicifolia, Nuttall.
California. In deep rich soil, valuable for evergreen hedges
of intricate growth.
Prunus Mahaleb, Linné.
Middle and South Europe. I t deserves some attention on
account of its scented seeds and also odorous wood, the latter
used in turnery for pipes and other articles. The fiowers are
in use for perfumes.
Prunus maritirua, Wangenheim.
The Beach-Plum of North America. A shrubby species, of
service not only for covering coast-sands, but also for its
fruit, which is crimson or purple, globular and measuring
from a-lialf to one inch. I t is not necessary to enter here
any notes on the generally known species of Prunus, wbich
have engaged already for years the keen attention of many
orchard-cultivators also in this colony. Thus we possess in
this country numerous though not all the best varieties, of
the Cherry, P. avium (L.) and P. Cerasus (L.), of the Plum,
P. domestica (L.), of the Apricot, P. Armeniaca (L.) and of
the Cherry-Plum, P. myrobalana (L.), the latter Canadian,
the others European and Oriental. Information on these
and other varieties, to which we have added independently
also here, may be sought in “ Hogg’s Emit Manual.” The
Almond (Amygdalus communis, L.) and the Peach (Amygdalus
Persica, L.) belong also generically to Prunus, as
indicated in 1812 by Stokes (“ Bot. Mat. Med.,” iii., 101)
and in 1813 by F. O. Hayne (“Arznei-Gewächse,” iv., 38)
and finally settled by J . D. Hooker (Bentb. and Hook., gen.
pi. i., 610), for which therefore now tbe names P. Amygdalus
and P. Persica should be adopted. The latter came originally
from China, while P. Aurmenica seems indigenous to the
Caucasian regions, and perhaps the Himalayas, and P. Cerasus
originated from West Asia.
Prunus spinosa, Linné.
The Sloe or Blackthorn. Wild in many parts of Europe.
With its fiowers it is one of the earliest plants to announce
the spring. Its tendency to throw out suckers renders the
bush less adapted for hedges of gardens than of fields, but
these suckers furnish material for walking-sticks. The small
fruits can be made into preserves. P. insititia (L.), the
Bullace, with larger and sometimes yellow fruits, extends, as
a variety, to North Africa and Middle Asia. Dr. Hooker
and other phytographers consider P. domestica not specifically
distinct from P. spinosa. Of medical value are P. Lauro-
Cerasus (L.), the evergreen Cherry-Laurel from the Orient,
and P. Padns (L.), the deciduous Bird’s Cherry, which extends
from Europe to North Africa and West Asia. These and
most other species contain in their foliage and in some other
parts Amygdalin. Perhaps some of the species from Eastern
Asia, California and tropical America are eligible for improving
their fruit through horticultural skill. The Sloe and
others might with advantage be naturalised on our forest-
streams.
Prunus Virginiana, Linné.
The Choke Cherry-tree of the United States. In a mild
clime and fertile soil this tree attains a height of 1 0 0 feet and
a stem of sixteen feet in circumference. The wood is compact,
fine-grained, and not liable to warp when perfectly
seasoned, of a dull, light-red tin t deepening with age. The
fruit finally loses its austerity.