A Peculiar Product

Scicr.tific AOierican: One of th most peculiar vegetable products of Brazil is the Moquilea utilip, or pottery tree. This tree attains a helgbt 100 feft, and has a very slender trunk, which scldom exceeds a fooi in diameter ai the base. The wood s exceedIngly hard, and contains a very large amount of silica, but not so much as ioes the bark, which is largely eniployed as a souree of silica for the manufacture of pottery. In preparing the bark for the potter's use it is flrst burned, and the residue is then pulverized and mixed with clay in the proper proportion. With an equal juantity of the two ingredients a superior quality of earthenware is produced. This is very durable and is capable of withstanding any amount of heat. The natives employ it for all kinds of culinary purposes. When dry it is generally brittle, though sometimes difflcult to break. After being burnecí it can not, if of good quality, be broken between the fingers, a mortar ind pesrlp being required to crush it.