er of the things that I thought 'puffickly d'licious' when
I was a child," said the young lady, laughing. "But there is another
peculiarity of this family of trees which is not so innocent, and that
is that in the fruit-kernel, and also in the leaves, there is a deadly
poison called prussic acid."

"O--h!" exclaimed the children, drawing back from the trees as though
they expected to be poisoned on the spot.

"But, as we do not eat either the kernels or the leaves," continued
their governess, "we need not feel uneasy, for the fruit never yet
poisoned any one. Here are the cherry trees, so covered with blossoms
that they look like masses of snow; and the smaller plum trees are also
attired in white. We will begin this evening with the almond tree, and
see what we can find out about the family."

"Do almond trees and peach trees look alike?" asked Clara, when they
were fairly settled by the schoolroom fire; for the evenings were too
cool yet for the piazza.

"Very much alike," was the reply; "only the almond tree is larger and it
has white instead of pink blossoms. Then it is the _fruit_ of the peach
we eat, but of the almond we eat the kernel of the stem. I will read you
a little account of it:

"'The common almond is a native of Barbary, but has long been
cultivated in the South of Europe and the temperate parts of Asia. The
fruit is produced in very large quantities and exported in to northern
countries; it is also pressed for oil and used for various domestic
purposes. There are numerous varieties of this species, but the two
chief kinds are the bitter almond and the sweet almond. The sweet almond
affords a favorite article for dessert, but it contains little
nourishment, and of all nuts is the most difficult of digestion. The
tree has been cultivated in England for about three centuries for the
sake of its beautiful foliage, as the fruit will not ripen without a
greater degree of heat than is found in that climate. The distilled
water of the bitter almond is highly injurious to the human species,
and, taken in a large dose, produces almost instant death.' The prussic
acid which can be obtained from the kernel of the peach is found also in
the bitter almond."

[Illustration: THE ALMOND.--BRANCH AND FRUIT.]

"But what do they want to find it for," asked Malcolm, "when it kills
people?"

"Because," replied his governess, "like some other noxious things, it
can be made valuable when used moderately and in the r