mollient
it is said to be useful in some painful affections of the joints; the
negroes deem it a sovereign remedy in "bone ache." The nut itself is
sometimes fancifully carved by the negroes, and is highly ornamental,
being of a shining jet black, and susceptible of a very high polish.
This tree may be increased from suckers.

_A. sclerocarpa_ is the Macahuba palm of Brazil.

THE AGAITI, as it is called by the Portuguese, or napoota by the
natives and Arabs (_Didynamia Gymosperma?_), much cultivated in all
Eastern Africa for its oil, which is considered equal to that of
olives, and fetches as high a price in the Indian market. The plant,
which is as tall and rank as hemp, and equally productive, having
numerous pods throughout the stems, is found everywhere in a wild as
well as cultivated state.

The "Cape Shipping Gazette," of August, 1850, says:--

"The attention of the George Agricultural and Horticultural Society
having been drawn to the fact that an excellent oil, equal to the
olive oil of Italy, can be extracted from the kernel of the fruit
known by the name of "T Kou Pijte" and "Pruim Besje," they have
offered a reward of L10 for the best sample, not less than a half
aum of this oil--and L15 if it shall be adjudged equal to the best
oil of Italy. This fact is deserving of notice, as an instance of
the advantages which are likely to result from the attention now
being devoted to the natural productions of the colony."

_Madia sativa_ is a handsome annual plant, native of Chili, which has
been naturalised in Europe. It grows about two feet high, and produces
flowers in July and August, of a pale yellow color.

The whole plant is viscid and exhales a powerful odor, which is
somewhat like heated honey. It requires rather a rich soil, of a
ferruginous character. The root is fusiform, the stem cylindrical, and
furnished with sessile, three to five longitudinally-nerved leaves,
which are apposite on the lower portion of the stem, and alternate on
the upper. M. Victor Pasquier, who has written on the culture of the
plant, analysed the seed, and found 100 parts to consist of 26.5 of
testa, and 73.5 of kernel; 100 parts of the latter yielded 31.3 of
vegetable albumen, gum, and lignine, 56.0 of _fixed oil_, and 12.5 of
water. In dry seasons the oil is both more abundant and better than in
damp seasons. The produce of oil, compared with that of the poppy, is
equal; with colza, as 32