confess that it contrasts very favourably with some of our solvent ones! The most interesting staple is decidedly sugar; and here, again, we find, what we cannot commend too highly nor too frequently-the complete illustration of this branch of human industry in all its various phases: the sugar-cane; crude sugar, as extracted from the plant; molasses; very many samples of sugar as exported; about ninety samples of rum, and a great variety of liqueurs.

Another very prominent product of the island is the lacebark (Lagetta lintearea), and other similar substances, commercially know as "bast," and employed for tying up cigars and other manufactured goods. But it would be impossible even to enumerate the products of this rich island, for the mention of them would occupy as much space as this article. It asserts its claim to be considered a cotton-growing colony, not only experimentally but practically. Its animal, vegetable, and mineral products are very numerous, the collections of natural history objects deeply interesting, and the Art collection by no means unimportant.

In British Guiana we find samples of cotton-wool which have been pronounced equal to the finest Sea-Island; and we could describe much more that is interesting, did we not fear that the patience of our readers is already exhausted by this dry catalogue; we shall, therefore, hurry through our task and bring these remarks to a close.

The contents of the Canadian Settlements present every indication of a rising empire. The vegetable products of Canada Proper are of the most important and indispensable description. Winter wheat, weighing 66 lb. to the bushel, is shown with no little pride; and the enormous "trophy" of coarse woods sufficiently denotes the flourishing state of a trade which is being largely interfered with by the daily-increasing employment of iron in shipbuilding. This trophy itself is

composed of enormous planks of oak, maple, birch, ash, elm, cedar, pine, walnut, cherry, and a number of other kinds, of which the names are almost unknown here; whilst the pedestal of the trophy consists of gigantic blocks or cross-sections of the same woods.

In the New Brunswick Court the same woods are exhibited in a very interesting manner. They form the leaves of a book, and are accompanied by the fruit and foliage of the various trees to which they appertain. Here, too, we have a valuable collection of furs, beaver-skins, &c.; and one of the chief attractions of the court consists of the beautiful pieces of furniture, cabinets, "what-nots," &c., constructed by the fair hands of the Canadian ladies, of "cone-work," in other words, with the cones of the fir-tree.

One mineral substance remains to be noticed in detail, and then we have done.

In this court is a most instructive series of samples illustrating the production, by distillation, of "Albertine oil" from Albert coal. We shall endeavour to convey by description some idea of the appearance of this useful substance in its various stages of manufacture.

First, then, we have the "Albert coal," a bright, light coal, somewhat resembling our "cannel." From this, a thick black fluid is extracted, which resembles crude petroleum, a greenishblack oil; this we will call No. 1. The next process, No. 2, leaves the oil solid, like clotted moist sugar; from this is produced No. 3, which presents a totally different appearance: it is a jelly-like mass, of a gold colour, and full of fine needleshaped crystals. No. 4 is a thin liquid, resembling colza oil, but flowing more like a spirit. No. 5 may be compared to Irish whisky, being a thin straw-coloured spirit; whilst the last process, No. 6, brings us to the refined spirit, not unlike camphine in appearance.

Thus we have glanced cursorily at our most important colonies-have visited, in turn, New Zealand, the various parts of the continent of Australia; Ceylon and India, with their rich tropical productions; Natal, and the Cape of Good Hope; our West Indian settlements; and, lastly, the important districts of Canada.

Our review has necessarily been brief and imperfect, for we have had so large a mass of materials to consider-have observed such numerous indications of increasing wealth and prosperity-that, as we entered one court after the other, we were more and more perplexed to decide what appeared the most likely to interest our readers.

Let us repeat most emphatically, that, with one or two exceptions, the display is highly creditable to the exhibitors: not only evincing a spirit of enterprise, of which, as Englishmen, we should not boast over much, but an increasing intelligence and a progressive knowledge in science and scientific applications, calculated to astonish those who bestow upon them the consideration which they so richly deserve.

Long may our colonies continue to flourish! Long may they remember that this is the mother-country; but.. . (in this wish it is questionable whether we shall command such. unanimous approval as in the two preceding) may they soon be sufficiently strong to govern themselves, so as to constitute the independent centres of civilization all over the habitable globe.

196

THE MISTLETOE AND PARASITIC PLANTS.

BY MRS. LANKESTER.

BUT

UT few botanists would expect to prosecute their researches in the midst of Christmas fêtes and gambols, and even on specimens rescued from the lurid flame of a burning plumpudding. Yet we can Yet we can assure those of our readers whose botanical thirst is impatient for a supply of genuine spring flowers that no more interesting subjects for study can be found in the fields than the holly and the mistletoe-both, perhaps, associated more with the idea of indoor merrymakings than outdoor rambles. Neither are we limited in our botanical studies during the hard winter months, when all Nature seems hiding herself from observation, to these familiar and remarkable plants,-the coloured patches on the barks of trees, on old walls, and broken palings afford a whole world of interesting study; and beautiful collections may be made of these variegated lichens. We, however, select the Mistletoe as the subject for our "winter's tale," not only on account of its great botanical interest, but from its ancient and curious associations with the history of our country.

The Mistletoe, Viscum album (Plate VIII., fig. 1), may be regarded as the type of parasitic plants generally-of those plants which establish a habitation for themselves in the substance of some other plant, and live and flourish on nutriment drawn from this source.

The order Loranthacea, to which the Mistletoe belongs, and of which it is the only British representative, consists almost entirely of parasitic plants. But three genera are known in Europe. Nuytsia floribunda, an Australian plant, forms an exception to the parasitic nature of the species, and is a very beautiful shrub, with large bright orange-coloured flowers, which gain for it the name of fire-tree.

In describing the order Loranthateer, we find that some botanists have separated a number of plants once included therein, and established another order, lisenere, of which Viseum is the type; Loranthus being that of the original order, Loranthacea. This distinction is not very generally adopted, and we are safe in regarding our mistletoe as belonging to the family