He says ginseng, spigelia, snake-root, etc., form considerable articles of exportation. The odor of skunk-cabbage is perceived in some North American currants, as _Ribes rigens_ of Michaux on high mountains. At one time the Indians about Quebec and Montreal were so taken up with searching for ginseng that they could not be hired for any other purpose. It is said that both the Chinese and the Indians named this plant from its resemblance to the figure of a man.[186] The Indians use the bark of _Dirca palustris_, or leather-wood, for their cordage. It was after the long-continued search of many generations that these qualities were discovered. Of tobacco (_Nicotiana Tabacum_) B. says, after speaking of its poisonous qualities: “Yet the first person who had courage and patience enough to persevere in its use, until habit had overcome his original disgust, eventually found in it a pleasing sedative, a soother of care, and a material addition to the pleasures of life. Its use, which originated among savages, has spread into every civilized country; it has made its way against the declamations of the learned, and the prohibitions of civil and religious authority, and it now gives rise to an extensive branch of agriculture, or of commerce, in every part of the globe.” Soon after its introduction into Europe, “the rich indulged in it as a luxury of the highest kind; and the poor gave themselves up to it, as a solace for the miseries of life.” Several varieties are cultivated. In return for many foreign weeds, we have sent abroad, says B., “the _Erigeron Canadensis_ and the prolific families of _Ambrosia_ and _Amaranthus_.” “The Indians were acquainted with the medicinal properties of more than one species of Euphorbia.” I noticed the button-bush, May 25th, around an elevated pond or mud-hole, its leaves just beginning to expand. This slight amount of green contrasted with its dark, craggly [_sic_], naked-looking stem and branches—as if subsiding waters had left them bare—looked Dantesque and infernal. It is not a handsome bush at this season, it is so slow to put out its leaves and hide its naked and unsightly stems. The _Andromeda ligustrina_ is late to leave out.