Medicinal Employment of Holly Leaves.

Dr. Rousseau has obtained from the Medico-Botanical Society of London its silver Medal, for an essay on the effects of holly leaves in fever:  he has cured several intermittent fevers by the remedy, whose alkali he calls Ilicine.—­Gazette of Health.

Tobacco no security against Cholera.

M. Chevalier proved, from documents, that the assertion made on a former evening, that tobacco was a preservative against cholera, was erroneous.  He stated that twenty-seven mechanics employed in the tobacco manufactories had died of the disease.—­Ibid.

Prussic Acid a Poison to Vegetables.

The sensitive plant, when exposed to the vapour of prussic acid, instantly closes its leaves.  The same plant, as well as other tender plants, such as the garden pea and kidney bean, when subject to the influence of this acid, quickly wither and die, and the laurel-water has the same effect upon them.  It appears also that plants which naturally contain the acid, such as the cherry-laurel and almond tree, are not less susceptible of its poisonous action than others.  Seeds, steeped for some time in the acid, lose their power of germination.—­Ibid.

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SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

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THE COURT OF EGYPT.  A SKETCH.

Two or three miles from Cairo, approached by an avenue of sycamores, is Shubra, a favourite residence of the Pasha of Egypt.  The palace, on the banks of the Nile, is not remarkable for its size or splendour, but the gardens are extensive and beautiful, and adorned by a Kiosk, which is one of the most elegant and fanciful creations I can remember.

Emerging from fragrant bowers of orange trees, you suddenly perceive before you, tall and glittering gates rising from a noble range of marble steps.  These you ascend, and entering, find yourself in a large quadrangular colonnade of white marble.  It surrounds a small lake, studded by three or four gaudy barques fastened to the land by silken cords.  The colonnade terminates towards the water by a very noble marble balustrade, the top of which is covered with groups of various kinds of fish in high relief.  At each angle of the colonnade, the balustrade gives way to a flight of steps which are guarded by crocodiles of immense size, admirably sculptured and all in white marble.  On the farther side, the colonnade opens into a great number of very brilliant banqueting-rooms, which you enter by withdrawing curtains of scarlet cloth, a colour vividly contrasting with the white shining marble of which the whole Kiosk is formed.  It is a favourite diversion of the Pasha himself to row some favourite Circassians in one of the barques and to overset his precious freight in the midst of the lake.  As his Highness piques himself upon