In consequence of a premium which was offered by the Society for Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, for discovering a method of preparing starch from materials not used as food for man, an experiment was made, by Mrs. Jane Gibbs, of Portland, in Dorsetshire, upon the roots of the common arum. A peck of the roots was found to produce about four pounds' weight of starch; and she prepared, in the whole, about two hundred weight. The process was to clean the roots, and pound them in a mortar with water: the pulp thus formed was strained, and after being allowed to settle, the water was poured off, and the starch remained at the bottom. Whilst speaking of the arum, it may be stated that the flowers of some of the foreign species (_Arum crinitum_ and _A. dracunculus_) have so strong a smell, like carrion, that even flesh-flies are attracted to deposit their eggs in them: and that the structure of the flowers is such that, when the insects attempt to retreat, they are prevented by the reversed hairs which are there found, and are destroyed. Some of the species are considered wholesome food; one (_Arum esculentum_) is much cultivated for this purpose in the West Indies and South America. The leaves of this plant, when boiled, are much esteemed as potherbs, and the roots are eaten either baked or boiled. 235. _The SWEET CHESNUT_ (Fagus castanea, Fig. 65) _is a stately tree, which grows wild in some of the southern and western parts of England, and is distinguished by having spear-shaped and pointed leaves, with tapering serratures at the edge._ _The flowers appear in long hanging spikes or clusters, about the month of May; and the fruit, which is ripe in September, is enveloped in a husk defended by a great number of complicated prickles._ Notwithstanding the known durability of the oak, there does not appear any well-authenticated instance of the age of an oak being equal to that of the celebrated chesnut-tree, at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, which was known as a boundary mark in the reign of King John. This tree is supposed to have then been more than 500 years old, making its age at this time to exceed 1100 years. The diameter of its trunk is fifteen feet, and it still continues to bear fruit. Few of our forest trees are more beautiful than the chesnut. It is true that the generality of painters prefer the oak for its picturesque form; but in the landscapes of Salvator Rosa, and other celebrated masters, chesnut-trees are very conspicuous.