!l TIVE . Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/descriptiveaccouOOmurr . ***> * ,■>•_ /^^^PALOoeVACA COW TREE ! I-'.. .1,1*11 ,y Sil R K iWer J DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT THE PALO DE VACA; COW TREE OF THE CARACAS : CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OP THE MILK AND BARK. ' And out of the giound made the Lord Cod to grow every tree that is pleasant to the eye and good for food." " Xon canimus surdis, respondent omnia Sylvoe." JOHX MURRAY, F.S.A., FI.S, F.H.S., F.G.S., &c., &c. SKCOND EDITION. LONDON: RELFE AND FLETCHER, CORKHILL. 1838. PRINTED BY T. H. SKKLTON, SOVTIIAMFTON. M > o on NOTE. In this new edition, so promptly required, the additions have neces- sarily been but few. I have had two hundred copies of the work, now published, with lithographic impressions struck off on a new and peculiar paper, made J from Musa textilis — the ink employed being that obtained from the ^ ink-bag of the fossil sepia (Belemnosepia) , contemporaneous with the Ichthyosaurus ! 4r r j.M. August 1st, 1838. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE. The Frontispiece figure represents the " Palo tie Vaca,' or " Cow Tree," lithographed from a sketch made by Sir Robert Ker Porter, on the spot, 23rd May, 183". The Palo de Vaca grows in the mountain forests near Coriacca, in Venezuela. The size of the figures shews the height of the tree. An endeavour has been made to preserve, as far as possible, a fac simile of the interesting drawing. TO SIR ROBERT KER PORTER, H. B. M. CHARGE D'AFFAIRES, AND BRITISH CONSUL-GENERAL, &c, &c, CARACAS. Dear Sir Robert, It is with great propriety that I inscribe this brochure and monograph to you. Your courtesy and kindness supplied the materiel; and the chemical examination of the milk and bark alone are mine. It therefore, now, only remains for me thus to acknowledge and record my obligations; while I beg you To believe me ever to be, Dear Sir Robert, Respectfully and obediently your's, J. MURRAY. Hull, \st October, 1837. DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT PALO DE VACA. THERE is no department of natural history more fraught with rich and luxuriant proofs of design, than the physiology of plants ; nor arc the exuherant bounties of a beneficent Providence any where more amply manifested. The Palms, for instance, supply almost all the requi- sites of nomadic life: "corn, wine, and oil," are expressive of the sustenance of our species; and Palms yield sago, milk, wine, ivax, and oil, besides cordage, culinary vessels, cajis, and suits of raiment. Their leaves form a shade from the vertical rays of the sun, and a shelter from the early and latter rains, as well as a roof for the wig-wain ; not to enter into the detail of a long list of all that is~necessary to the tenants of the tropics. It is, indeed, more especially in equatorial regions that we are most sensibly impressed with the Creator's bounty to his creatures, and the fuller em- phasis of the gift recorded in the expressive language of the sacred records : " I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed — to you it shall be for meat." What could the islander of the Pacific do without his taro and the bread-fruit tree? — to him, indeed, the "stay of bread" and "staff of life ;" and how could millions more, both in the old and new world, subsist, with- out the "Sago Palm," the "Jaca," the "Plantain," and "Bannana?"— and what could the Arab do without the Date ? Numbers in the peninsula of India still " cast their bread upon the waters, that they may find it after B 10 many days,"* as in the times of old, while the Arab even now collects manna in the desert, to eat with his "unleavened bread." Not to mention the ministrations of vegetation to the refinements of luxury, "myrrh, frankincense, and all the powders of the merchant," the arts and manufac- tures in countless forms, and every varied section of social and civil life, arc abundantly enriched from a cornucopia ever full and over flowing. ThcRubus arc ticks, in Lapland; the Peganum retusum, of the peninsula of Sinai ; the "Water Melon," of the Desert of Aj mere; and the Palo do Vaca, of the rocky flanks of the Cordilleras, — all prove that Providence has no where "left himself without a witness." The surface of the Wax Palm yields abundant wax for light : then there is the " Shea," or Butter Tree, and others yield tallow ; while the Sapindus, or Soap-berry, is an excellent substitute for soap, and I have used it as such. The seed vessel of the Lycythis ollaris, or Pot-tree, is of adamantine hardness, and becomes an admirable culinary vessel, which resists the fire. The Sjiathe, or hood of a Palm, and the tomentum of the leaves of the Hernias depauperata supply caps, gloves, and stockings ; and the beautiful and rich veins of these leaves impart a singular elegance to the latter. The "Shirt-trees," of the Cerra Duida, as described by one of the most accomplished of travellers will be remembered, and the inner bark, liber, of the "Paper Mulberry," or the " Natoo," of the Tonga Islands, supplies the natives of Polynesia with a beautiful material for dress, while the Daphne lagetto, of Jamaica, yields an elegant and ornamental veil, which outstrips the genius of art and its refinements. The "bush rope," of the American Continent, is a natural rope of great strength and power, and the elastic fibres of the Cocoa-nut defy the hurricane of the west, as well as the monsoon of the eastern hemisphere ;f while the hollow stem of the Cecropia peltata forms a trumpet that re- sounds through the forest, and awakens the echoes from their slumbers. Thus the useful and the ornamental have been consulted. There is "a feast in the wilderness," and living " streams in the desert," and all are benefitted and blessed. Whatever sentiments of pain and pity are excited by reflecting on the poison trees of Java, — the Upas tieutc and Upas antiar, the poisonous root of the Aconitum ferox, or the still more formida- ble Tanghinia vencniflua of Madagascar, and the savage applications of these lethal juices by the natives, "our spirits are refreshed, and we get * I am of opinion that this is beautifully illustrated in the mode of sowing the seeds of the Loins, as described by Mr. IIovle, in his " Flora of Cashemere," &c. t Now made into elegant mats. 11 well again," when we turn to the "Palo de Vaca," and our contemplations are fixed on the Cow Tree and its nutritious, bland, and refreshing streams. Among the magnificent spectacles of tropical forests, and their glorious architecture, there is none, methinks, that so rivets to the hallowed spot our feelings and awakens our sympathies as the wonderful " Cow Tree." The excellencies of the sublime and beautiful here mingle together ; and there being not only "what is beautiful to the eye but good for food," the sentiment of gratitude mingles in the affections, and gives a new pulse to " the genial current of the soul." " Absit invidia" I would wish to say, but I must needs confess that I envy the happy feelings of the Baron de Hum- bolt and Sir R. K. Porter, at the sight of this magnificent tribute of crea- tive good. Dr. Wallick, in genuine enthusiasm, " leaped for joy," at the spectacle of the Amhertia nobilis, with its vermilion canopy of dazzling blossoms; Sir Stamford Raffles stood astonished when he contemplated the flower of Sumatra, that bears his name, and displays a disc of nine feet circumference ; and the great and gifted Linneus knelt down on first behold- ing Albion's beautifully blossomed furze ! — but what a train of exalted associations are kindled by the peaceful grandeur and lofty majesty of the Palo de Vaca '. Fountain trees, whistling trees, and canon-ball trees, all must wane before the " Palo de Vaca." Humboldt describes the "Palo de Vaca," or "Cow Tree," as growing on the shores of the Cordilleras, and found most plentifully between Bar- bula and the lake of Maracaybo : — " On the barren flank of the rock," says this interesting writer, " grows a tree with dry and leather-like leaves ; its large, woody roots can scarcely penetrate into the stony soil. For several months in the year not a single shower moistens its foliage. Its branches appear dead and dried ; yet as soon as the trunk is pierced, there flows from it a sweet and nourishing milk. It is at sun rise this vegetable foun- tain is most abundant. The natives are then to be seen hastening from all cjuarters, furnished with large bowls, to receive the milk, which grows yellow and thickens at the surface. Some employ their bowls under the tree, while others carry home the juice for their children. This fine tree rises like the broad leafed star apple. Its oblong and pointed leaves, tough and alternate, are marked by lateral ribs : some of them are ten inches long. We did not see the flower. The fruit is somewhat fleshy, and contains a nut, — sometimes two. The milk, obtained by incisions made in the trunk, is glutinous, tolerably thick, free from all acrimony, and of an agreeable and balmy smell. It was offered to us in the shell of the tutuno or calabash tree. We drank a considerable quantity of it in the evening, before we went to bed, and very early in the morning, without AS 12 experiencing the slightest injurious effects. The viscosity of the milk alone renders it somewhat disagreeable. The negroes and free labourers drink it, dipping into it their maize or cassava bread." This enterprizing traveller thus continues : — " Among the many cu- rious phenomena which presented themselves to me in the course of my travels, I confess that there were few by which my imagination was more powerfully affected than the Cow Tree. All that relates to milk and the cereal plants, inspires vis with an interest, which is not merely that of the physical knowledge of things, but which connects itself with another order of ideas and feelings. We can hardly imagine how the human species could exist without farinaceous substances, and without the nutritious fluid which the breast of the mother contains, and is appropriated to the condi- tion of the feeble infant. The amylaceous matter of the cereal plants, the object of religious veneration among so many ancient and modern nations, is distributed in the seed, and deposited in the root of vegetables ; while the milk we use as food, appears exclusively the product of animal organiza- tion. Such are the impressions we receive in early childhood, and such is the source of atonishment with which we are seized on first seeing the Cow Tree. Magnificent forests, majestic rivers, and lofty mountains, clad in perennial snows, are not the objects which we here admire. A few drops of a vegetable fluid impresses us with an idea of the power and fecundity of nature." Connected with this extraordinary phenomenon, I shall now quote from a communication on the subject from Trinidad, addressed by Mr. D. Loch- hart, to A. B. Lambert, Esq., one of the Vice-presidents of the Linnean Society : — " I have just returned from an excursion to the Caracas, where I collected the juice of a Cow Tree, and I have now the pleasure of sending you a phial of the milk, together with a few leaves and a portion of the root of the tree. The Palo de Vaca is a tree of large dimensions. The one that I procured the juice from, had a trunk seven feet in diameter, and it was one hundred feet from the root to the first branch. The milk was obtained by making a spiral incision into the bark. Carauo, the place where I met with the tree, is about fifty miles east of La Guayra, and at an elevation of from 1000 to 1200 feet above the level of the sea. It is likewise found between Cape Codera and Barcelona. The milk is used by the inhabitants wherever it is known. I drank a pint of it without experiencing the least inconvenience ; in taste, and consistence, it much resembled sweet cream, and possesses an agreeable smell. I was so fortunate as to procure some young trees and roots of the Palo de Vaca, which I will endeavour to increase." I have not heard with what success the attempt was attended. 13 but judging from the very peculiar circumstances under which the Palo de Vaca is found, I do not anticipate success from their transplantation and transfer. To the preceding communication, Mr. David Don, an eminent Botanist, Professor of Botany, in King's College, London, and librarian to the 'Linnean Society,' has added some observations. "I had an opportu- nity," says he "of examining attentively the leaves of the "Palo de Vaca" and found them to approach very close to those of several South American species of ficus. The disposition of the nerves and veins as precisely similar, which together with the insertion and consistence of the leaves themselves, appear to justify the propriety of the place assigned to the " Palo de Vaca," by M. Kunth, who has arranged it in the family of Urticecc, under the name of Galactodendron utile; but neither he nor myself have seen the fruit or flower; so that as a genus, it rests on very insufficient grounds. The tree, however, is evidently related to ficus or brossimum. The juice contained in the phial sent to Mr. Lambert, had the appearance of cream, and, notwithstanding that it had suffered materially from the long voyage, the taste was by no means unpallatable." Though in the preceding note, Mr. Professor Don, confesses that neither he nor Kunth, had seen flower or fruit, the Cow Tree is unceremoniously assigned to the family of the Nettles; so much for the 'natural arrangement,' as it is called, of Plants! and the dogmatism of its advocates.* Mr. Smith in a communication to Professor Jameson, mentions a tree discovered by him in an excursion up the river Demerara, possessing qualities somewhat allied to those of the Palo de Vaca. It is stated to be a tree from thirty to forty feet high, with a diameter at the base of nearly eighteen inches; the milky juice which exudes very abundantly on the tree being cut, was found to be thicker and richer than Cow's milk, altoge- ther without acrimonious properties, and mixing freely with water. It does not however seem to belong to the same genus of plants as the Cow-tree. Mr. Arnott examined a dried specimen transmitted by Mr. Smith, and proposes to call it Tabemamontana ntilis. Mr. Fanning who came from the Caracas to England in 1827, introduced small specimens of the Cow- tree the first ever seen in England, together, with a drawing of the tree, and * This remark must not be misunderstood, or accepted sine limine. I fully and freely grant that the Jussieuan arrangement has rare excellencies, and is possessed of many virtues; I only protest against the assumed title, which its votaries claim for it; — 'The natural system/ — what! are the "Bread Fruit Tree" and the '■ Cow Tree," natural associates of the " Nettle," or the " Dock," or *' Rhubarb," of the " Sea-side Grape V when ' men gather figs off thorns and grapes off thistles.' — when incongruity means congruity; Then may the Jussieuan arrangement be emphatically denominated par excellence. — 'thx KArURAL SYSTEM.' 14 brought with him at the same time some of the milk dried in the form of Lozenges. These plants all unfortunately perished. I was through the kindness of M. A. de Jussieu, permitted to visit the serres in the ' Jardin des Plantes,' at Paris. Among the Genus ficus, are seve- ral fine specimens, as that of Madagascar, with leaves three feet long, the ficus macrophylla, and others. There is also one said to be the Palo de Vaca, which is there recognized under the name of ficcs braziliexsis, but cer- tainly with questionable propriety. There are some curious Phenomena connected with the genus Jfcus. The aerial roots detached from the outspreading branches of the jicus religiosa, that become to many additional props or pillars of support, is a conspicuous example. The ' Banian' of the Nerbuddah with its ' alcoves and pillared shades,' is itself a forest and a family tree, that comprises a circumference of 2000 feet round the extremities of the overhanging branches. Dr. Wallick mentions a specimen of the Banian which has literally turned itself outside in like a glove, and another that from decay in one of its arms, being ready to give way, " strengthened its stakes" by projecting a transverse young shoot, across the decayed branch. Colonel Todd gives an example of a Teak-wood flag staff, embraced about "half mast high" by the 'Banian,' with its roots dangling in the air, and having no communication whatever with the earth, and I have seen a specimen of the ficus australis that had been removed from the pot and attached to the roof of one of the hot-houses in the royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, for three years, and had already carried a crop of figs, I have also witnessed a ficus elcistica growing entirely in the atmosphere. There seems to be a ' milk-tree' among the Forests of Para, it is called ' massenodendron/ and is a lofty tree. An officer on board H. M's. ship ' Chanticleer,' informed me that this milk was commonly used on board for a considerable time, and found to equal Cow's milk in every res- pect, it underwent no chemical change, nor did it cast up any cream, neither was there any tendency to acidity, nor did alkalis affect it; after nine days it became more transparent towards the top, and eventually preci- pitated a whitish, curdy substance, having, (when the liquid was evaporated,) somewhat of the nature and properties of vegetable wax. He further stated that the fruit, which contains two seeds, tasted precisely like straw- berries and cream, and the wood was employed as timber in shipbuilding in the dock yard at Para. Capt. S , of Exeter, informs me that such was the character of some vegetable milk he brought to this country, and a South American Traveller told me, that in consequence of observing that the natives used the milk of the Cow Tree (?) to render their boots imper- H vious to water, he had a quantity submitted to a Tanner in this country, in whose hands the application utterly failed. It is quite obvious that my informant has been entirely mistaken in the nature of the lactescent fluid, having confounded he milky liquid of the Jicus clastica with that of the 'Cow Tree.' The natives of South America have indeed from time immemorial employed it for a similar purpose. Sir R. K. Porter has had the goodness to send me from the Caracas, a bottle of the milk of the Palo de Vaca, together witli the portion of a branch, containing three leaves from an old tree, and a branch with its leaves, of a young tree, also a piece of the bark, and enhanced the truly val- uable donation, by a beautiful sketch of the tree itself, highly characteristic of his elegant pencil. I cannot resist the pleasure of giving entire the graphic description of his visit to the Palo de Vaca, as contained in his very interesting letter to me, under date, 8th of June last, 183". "The period at which my visit was made to this marvellous vegetable production, unfortunately found it without flower or fruit, but as I have in vain for months and months past endeavoured to ascertain the parti- cular time of either or both ; I was compelled to seize the first leisure four or five days, to make an excursion into the mountainous part of the coun- try where it grows. " We journeyed over a most rugged suite of mountains to the Cor- dillera, on the north coast, which occupies nearly its whole extent; and at a distance of fifty miles from this capital, at an elevation — I should suppose of between 4 and 5,000 feet above the level of the Carribean sea — reached the neighbourhood of the tree sought for, having passed the night at a sugar estate, in one of the pretty and productive valleys abounding near the coast. At six the following morning, attended by some natives, we began an ascent of about a league up the face of an awfully steep moun- tain, covered with a dense forest of enormous trees and thick jungle. The people were actually obliged to cut a pathway through the almost impene- trable hanging branches, and other bushy interruptions. After a most toiling walk, in a couple of hours, we reached the Palo de Vaca grove ; and, I assure you, I felt most amply repaid, by the sight of so many mar- vellously huge vegetable productions, for all the fatigue I had already undergone. The tree our people first commenced their milking opera- tions on, measured more than twenty feet in circumference, about a man's height from its roots, from whence its magnificently colossal stem rose to full sixty feet, clear of the smallest branch or leaf. The vast arms and minor branches spread themselves, at this elevation, on every side — certainly to an extent, from the centre, of at least twenty-five feet — the 16 whole luxuriantly clothed with immense leaves. This splendid portion of the tree, I am sure, cannot add less than forty additional feet to its won- derful elevation. "The Indians of our company told us that the milk is far more pro- fuse in its flowing, when the requisite incisions are made in the bark on the increase of the moon, than it is on the decrease ; however, we got a couple of bottles of it in a quarter of an hour, but from two trees. When the wound was made in that on which I looked with so much wonder and indescribable feeling, the snowy current broke forth with great violence. Its colour and consistency were precisely that of the animal milk, with a taste not less sweet and palatable; yet it left on the tongue a slight bitter- ness, and on the lips a considerable claminess; an aromatic smell was most strongly perceptible when tasting it. I have sent you a small piece of the bark, in which is contained the lacteal fluid.* It varies from an inch to one and a half in thickness. The wood forming the body of the tree, is white, hard, and close grained. The dimensions I have given were exceeded by many feet in every way by numbers of others of the same kind that grew within some vards around. The forest abounds in thousands of different kinds of trees many even exceeding in size, the wonderful "Palo de Vaca!" In verification of the interesting remark made by the natives in refer- ence to the encreased flow of the milk at the period of the moon's increase, the following facts may be cited. Mr. Edmonstone, who has been for 30 years engaged in cutting timber in Demerara, has constantly observed that when it is cut at the full moon, it immediately splits as if rent by a wedge, and is attacked much sooner by the " rot." The sap rises to the top at the full moon, and falls in propor- tion to the moon's decrease. I am also informed that the ship 'Day,' built of Canada Timber, though now 30 years old, is still so 'sea worthy' as to merit insurance at Lloyd's, as A. 1. The timber was cut down at the de- crease of the moon, a fact replete with interest and importance, in a mari- time and commercial nation like Great Britain.f The dimensions of three leaves sent me by Sir Robert Ker Porter, and taken from an old Cow Tree in the mountain forests near Coriacca, in Vene- zuella, on the 23rd May, 183/, I find respectively to be 14J in. long, by * When viewed by the microscope no secreting glands can be discovered in the bark, t What the following adumbrates, it is perhaps difficult to determine, but it seems to prove that the ancients were aware that vegetation was peculiarly affected at the decrease of the moon. 'Admotis Athamanis tif/ttis ftccendfre lignum Narratur ; minimos cum Luna recesait in orbes.' 17 4iin. in breadth, at the middle of the leaf; 14iin. long, by 4|in. in breadth ; and 13|in. long, by 4Jin. broad. Sir Robert observes, "with regard to the thing colour of the leaves, it differs little in depth of green and polish, from those of the laurel leaf." In the leaves of the veteran Cow Tree the other proportions were as follows :— Curved tip Uin. long, fringe ^in. broad, the ribs, or main lateral veins, greatest fin., and least §in. ; there is a distance of 3in. between the lower leaves on the stem. Six leaves of a young " Palo de Vaca" tree were sent at the same time with the others ; three were still attached to the stem, and the other three separate. The leaves are alternate, with a prolongation of the mid rib at the summit, somewhat curved, and similar to that of the "Banian" leaf. Length of the petiolus or leafstalk, l^in. Space between the two upper leaves on one side, 2 A inches. Lower leaf on the stem, 9 inches long and 2J inches broad. Central one, .... 8J ditto 2% ditto. Upper leaf, 10 ditto 2| ditto. Curved tip at the summit, A inch long. I have compared with some degree of attention the vascular structure of the " Palo de Vaca," with skeleton leaves of several exotic species of the genus Jicus. The elongated and curved tip of the leaf and the narrow reticular fringe in the foliage of the Jicus religiosa, have some affinity with similar parts of the leaves of the "Palo de Vaca," but here the similarity ends. The contour or general form of the leaf more nearly approaches that of the ficus elastica ; but in this last, the curved extension at the summit is wanting, and the beautiful parallelism of the lateral fibres does not find a counterpart in those of the " Palo de Vaca," which somewhat exemplify the structure of forked veins. The similitude of the leaves of the most magnificent in the beautiful of vegetation, and the noblest monument of the useful among her myriad wonders, is not less striking than extraordinary. I have compared the leaves of the " Palo de Vaca," with those in the splendid engraving of the Amhertia nobilis ; — the largest size, (of which I believe on\y four were finished, and one of these is in my possession), wherein the leaves, &c, are represented of their natural magnitude; and find that the size, contour, veining, and nervures, exactly correspond. Decandole, in his "Considerations sur la Phytologie" observes, "Des tous les moyens de perfectioner la Botanique proprement dite, le plus fecond est la multiplication des monographies de genres ou de families,"* * " C'est dans les sonographies seules," says be elsewhere, " que reside I'avanceraeut de la botatu* que descriptive," C 18 and indeed the " Palo dc Vaca," seems to be so insulated by its peculiarities, from its fellows, as to merit a separate memoir. There seems to be no nafwal alliance with the Urticeoe, into which 'family' it has been forced along with the e artocarpus' or 'Bread-fruit,' and the 'Jaea;' while the chemical constitution of its peculiar lactescent secretion separates it from ficus elastica, and its congeners yielding India Rubber. Besides, we have no data to determine with sufficient accuracy its genus, which after all may be sui generis, and have no proper affinity with ficus or brossitnum. By a letter received from Sir R. K. Porter, I may reasonably hope soon to receive both the flower and fruit, and without these, indeed, I can- not see how the "Palo de Vaca" can be legitimately assigned to its proper place in the ' Systema Vegetabilium'. The milk when allowed to repose for several months per se, throws up no superficial film resembling the cream of animal milk, but separates naturally into a solid mass of a somewhat granular consistency, and a coloured liquid comparatively fractional in quantity. The aqueous solution agitated in contact with highly rectified sulphu- ric ether, after a lapse of several months, separated into four distinct strata or layers, namely, an aqueous stratum at the bottom, on which was super- imposed a dingy opake coagulum ; a white curdy zone remained floating on it, and above a clear liquid like sulphuric ether. When after a lapse of several months, the contents of this phial were poured into a wine glass, and allowed gradually to evaporate, the thin incrustation which floated on the top, and somewhat resembled that of camphor when separated by water from its solution in alcohol, was gradually precipitated; when pressed between the fingers it was viscid and sticky, and what had become con- crete on the lip of the phial, resembled birdlime in a dried state. The following experiments were instituted on a portion of the 'milk' of the " Palo de Vaca," previously transmitted to me by Sir Robert Ker Porter, and received on the sixth of February, 183"; the milk being ex- tracted in October preceding. When the cork of the bottle was withdrawn, it was followed by an ex- plosive report, almost as loud as that of a pistol ; succeeded by a violent effervescence and overflow of the lactescent liquid, accompanied by a copi- ous disengagement of carbonic acid gas, in a visible form, resembling light, smoke from its combination with aqueous vapour. The consistence, taste, and smell were precisely that of thick sour cream, with curdy granulations deposited on the surface in contact, and it felt somewhat viscid or clammy to the touch. I used a little of it in tea, and it relished very well, and imperfectly mixed like sour cream, imparting a curdled appearance, and tasting somewhat balsamic. 19 Carbonic acid gas was freely disengaged in a nascent form, and ren- dered lime-water turbid. When mixed with caustic potassa, granulations were formed. Pet-chloride of iron was not notably affected, but when chloride of gold was applied, being preceded by caustic potassa, it became black, hence morphia was inferred to be in combination. Perchloride of mercury precipitated a fine white arenaceous matter, indicating albumen. It presented no oleaginous appearance on the surface of boiling water. Blue litmus paper was changed permanently red, not altered by a con- siderable temperature. ' It separates from distilled water, when suffered to repose, and minute arenaceous granulations adhere to the sides of the phial. When mixed with distilled water, and shaken in contact with sulphuric ether, the latter soon parts and floats transparent on the surface, and in the centre, a whitish turbid stratum or band, makes its appearance. With hydrochloric acid, it became turbid and granular. Nitric acid produced a curdy appearance having a sulphur yellow colour. The application of sulphuric acid produced a dark coagulum. When heated to 1J6' F., flakes and flocculi of albumen were announced. Mixed with alcohol, it readily passed in perfect transparency through the filter, and distilled water rendered it milky from the presence of resin. A slip of card stained with tincture of iodine, became blue from the milk when previously heated. It temporarily mixes readily with distilled water, and when boiled, separates into curdy matter, which collects at top ; and a clear liquid passes through the filter. With the addition of protoacetate of lead no notable effect was pro- duced, hence the absence of mucus. Silicated Potassa rendered it brown, and separated turbid flocculi, apparently gum. Boiling alcohol gave indications of wax. It is evident that the milk had undergone fermentation and decompo- sition from the long voyage, and it is possible, that when it first flows from the tree, caoutchouc may obtain in it, being subsequently partially decom- posed or modified by the fermentation which had supervened; but no trace of genuine caoutchouc, as commonly recognized, could be detected. Dr. Trail has stated, I known not on what authority, that the milk of the Cow Tree contains a considerable quantity of caoutchouc ; this, however, 20 does not seem to be the case. The product partially soluble in ether, &c, and having a very nauseous smell, seems to be a substance intermediate between bird-lime and gluten, or perhaps a combination of both. Some milk from the Caracas, mentioned by Trail, remained sweet for six months, and according to him, yielded little or no caoutchouc, but afforded both wax and resin. I infer from the chemical examination of this vegetable milk, as indicated by these several reagents or tests, the presence of Albumen. „ ' > perhaps associated in the form of a gum-resin. Resin. } Wax. Morphia, a minute quantity. Fecula, in small proportion. A substance combining the properties of bird-lime with those of the gluten of wheat, &c. Carbonic acid, acetic, and other acids. The separated white curdy flakes left on evaporation of the solution in ether, were not materially changed by continued exposure to bright sun- shine. This matter was extremely viscid and sticky, so as to require some effort to separate the fingers, or slips of paper glued together by it. Soap and water had no effect in removing it from the skin, which could only be accomplished by the previous application of alcohol. I infer therefore, from its peculiar characteristics, that it is bird-lime, and neither caout- chouc nor gluten, at least, in their usually recognized characters, though bird-lime seems to be something intermediate or perhaps rather a modifi- cation of both. 21 THE BARK. A portion of distilled water at 212' was poured on the bark in powder, which imparted to it a greenish yellow colour. Percloride of mercury precipitated a reddish arenaceous powder. Persulphate of iron produced a dark purplish tint. Tincture of iodine yielded an immediate dark violet, and eventually precipitated a ' black-blue' sediment. Alcohol afforded a slight indication of gum. Solution of isinglass gave a brown tannate of gelatine. Infusion of galls, a slight turbid brownish precipitate. Litmus paper was not notably affected. Nitric acid imparted a brownish and 'greasy' appearance. Caustic potassa gave a dark brown tint. The fibres of the inner bark are possessed of considerable tenacity and strength. To the taste, the bark of the Cow Tree evinces no perceptible acidity, and only a weak astringency. — A strip of the edible nest of the 'Java Swallow,' having been preserved for sometime in a decoction of the bark, was converted into a substance resembling leather, dark and fib- rous in structure, so that this epicurean dainty is an organized animal sub- stance, having the character of gelatine. On combustion, the external cortical matter yielded a feeble indication of the presence of Nitrate of Potassa, especially determinate in the liber, which afforded frequent scintillations or deflagrations. The external bark is somewhat warted, and in the interior, is of a reddish yellow colour. The liber is fibrous and tears like coarse brown paper. Cold rectified alcohol was added to another portion of the powdered bark, and received from it a tint similar to that imparted to the boiling water. Tincture of iodine was entirely unaffected. Persulphate of iron communicated a claret tinge. Perchloride of mercury gave a bright red arenaceous sediment. Distilled water produced indications of resin. Solution of isinglass formed a brown powder and precipitate. Infusion of galls precipitated a red powder. Litmus paper was slightly reddened, evincing the presence of a weak acid. 22 Nitric acid communicated a darker shade. Caustic potassa produced a dark brown colour. The various reagents adverted to, combined with others, afforded in- dications of gallic acid; tannin, gum, resin, fecula, gluten, extractive, and colouring matter. I comtemplate at some favourable opportunity a more extensive and more minute series of experiments, both on the "milk" and bark, in a quantitative analysis, but those already mentioned, shew that both of them are fraught with phcenomena of no common interest. Among the various secretions belonging to vegetation, which I have made the subjects of particular chemical examination, there are none, with the exception of the milk of the Cow Tree, which have imparted a deeper interest than those of the 'Coryanthes maculata' and the liquid contents of the ascidium of the 'Nepenthes distillatoria' or Pitcher Plant, and the kind- ness of Earl Fitzwilliam has enabled mc to do both. The 'Coryanthes maculata' is a native of the Brazils, and belongs to that extraordinary class of Plants recognized under the name of Epiphytes. In sombre or gloomy weather the flowers refuse to open, and the singularly curious blossom con- tains two glands, sufficiently conspicuous, from which a secreted liquid, perfectly limpid and colourless, is incessantly distilling day and night for two or three days continually, from the tips of the glands into the pouch of the lahellum, whence as soon as it reaches a certain level, the superfluity is drained off by ducts provided for this purpose. A portion of this liquid, which to the taste, precisely resembled opium, was submitted to specific tests, in order to determine its peculiar nature. It was unaffected by sul- phate of iron, nitrate of Baryta, lime water and oxalate of ammonia, Litmus paper was slightly reddened, hence the presence of a st/persalt was inferred. A drop of pure potassa, followed by chloride of gold, became jet black, this with the permuriate of iron becoming red, proved unequivocally the existence of Morphia. A crystal of nitrate of silver became slightly opake at the edge. • It seems evident therefore that this liquid contains morphia in the form of a supersalt, perhaps the supermeconate of morphia, accompanied by a little narcotine. It is a matter of some difficulty to dis- cover the use or purpose for which this singular provision was intended, and conjecture is all that can be ventured upon. It may maintain an equable temperature and thus tend to preserve the flower, or it may be in- tended to prevent insect depredation, or subdue the irritability of the organs of fructification — or finally become a subtile medium and vehicle of absorp- tion for the pollen. 23 The chemical examination of the liquid contents abstracted from two ascidia of the Nepenthes distillatoria, one of which had not as yet opened the lid of the pitcher, and the other had opened some hours before, supplied me with the following' phenomena. In the former of these, litmus paper was instantly reddened, remaining permanent. — Other test papers as those of Turmeric and Brazil were not affected. Nitrate of silver evinced a curdy appearance, which became sub- sequently brown. Oxalate of ammonia produced an effect somewhat equivo- cal. Silicated potassa, phosphate of soda, hydriodate of potassa, and nitrate of baryta produced no sensible effect whatever. — Others gave me the presence of saccharine matter, but lime water gave no index of change, nor was Chloride of Platinum sensibly affected, I am therefore warranted, con- trary to the opinion of that able chemist, the late Dr. Turner, to infer the entire absence of 'superoxalate of potassa,' and consider the liquid contents of the pitcher to contain malic acid, lime (?), muriate of soda and a little saccharine matter. The brown tint indicated by the test of nitrate of silver, I conclude was owing to chlorophyle ; and the presence of malic acid I infer rather from the peculiar smell developed when the liquid is heated, than draw my conclusions from any specific reagent. When the contents of the pitcher are long exposed to the contact of the atmosphere, it is quite con- ceivable that the re-action of the uncombincd acid (mallic) on the saccha- rine matter may promote its transmutation into oxalic acid. The liquid obtained from the pitcher that had already opened, was of an amber colour and pleasantly acidulous. The following reagents were perfectly inert, namely, nitrate of baryta, silicated potassa, lime water, oxalate of ammonia, and pcrchloride of platinum. Litmus paper became permanently red, — subacetate of lead formed a greyish precipitate, nitrate of silver yielded curdy flocculi, afterwards brown; with caustic potassa it became turbid, and developed ammonia. This last, I consider, was owing to the insect life destroyed in the liquid, after the lid of the pitcher opened, portions of which indeed could be detected in the fluid. Mallic acid, (perhaps too mingled with other vegetable acids,) mu- riate of soda and chlorophyle were the contents. In this case as in the other, there was no trace of oxalic acid either free or combined. The structure and mechanism of the pitcher is altogether of the most curious and interesting kind, and that the liquid is the secretion of the plant is evident; because it is found there, when the lid of the pitcher is as it were hermetically closed, and is altogether impervious to air and moisture. The mid rib of the leaf where it enters into the reservoir of the pitcher is hollow, 24 and the lower interior surface, to the extent of two-thirds its depth, is finely varnished and studded all over with minute orifices, pointing downwards. These I believe to be the mouths or stomata of the secreting organs that replenish the pitcher, and I am led to this conclusion from the inclination of the orifices, as well as from having seen very small ants in such ascidia as had already opened their lids, adhering to them, and having also observed with a lens, minute globules in contact with these orifices. The structure of the pitcher is very singular and completely interwoven with spiral coils, such as are observable in the leafstalk of elder leaves; also in those of the dog- wood, and especially the petiolus of the blue lotus, {nelumbium cerulccum) . If the ascidium be gently rent assunder, every part will be found full of them, and the tissue appears like that of a gossamer web. The lip is composed of a spiral coil, or rather circinate folds, separated at the hinge and broader towards the centre in front, which acts as a fulcrum in the opening of the lid, and is more opake than the body of the pitcher. In the progress of maturity, the folds develope themselves, and the ends pressing on the hinge of the lid cause it to open, Jirst at each side; for by a curious process, being a prolongation of the ribs in front, the lid is there strapped down, and main- tained in that position for sometime longer. Air will thus find access lat- erally, while dilution from atmospheric vapour will be prevented. The liquid will thus become acidulous or acidified, and Dr. Graham has remarked that the liquid, subacid in the first instance, became ultimately more distinctly acid. It appears to me that the liquid matter poured into the pitcher by the secreting orifices which stud the inner surface, flows into the plant again by the hollow canal of the mid rib, having been previously subjected to the electro-chemical action of the sunbeam, and thus completes the conditions of circulation ; and the pitcher having thus fulfilled the office for which it was destined in the physiology of the plant, throws open the lid, declines from the perpendicular, and pours its residual contents on the ground. It is very interesting to consider the varied character of lactescent Juices in the vegetable kingdom. That of euphorbias is highly acrimonious ; that of poppy and lettuce, narcotic; that of ficus elastica, 8fc. very elastic; and in the lactodendron utile, and Palo de Vaca, bland and nutritive. The milky juice of the assafcetida concretes into a foetid gum, and that of the ' Jaca' (artocarpus integrifolia) is a bird-lime. The urceola elastica of palo penang, creeps on the ground, or climbs the loftiest trees, extending frequently more than 500 feet. The lactefcent juice which flows when the stem is wounded in an old plant, has been com- •23 puled to amount to two-thirds the entire weight of the plant. It con- stitutes, when consolidated, caoutchouc* From two fine branches of Kolqual (euphorbia antiquorum), at the mountain Taranta, in Abysinnia, wounded by a sabre, according to Bruce, there poured forth a stream of milky fluid of nearly four gallons, and so caustic as to excoriate the fingers like boiling water, and to stain with an indelible rust the blade of the sabre. I have a specimen of the indurated albumen of the double cocoa nut, or ' coco de mer,' which has been preserved for upwards of twenty years ; it Is hard and capable of receiving as fine a polish as ivory ; it has been cut, and I have a beautiful model of the ' coco de mer' carved from a portiou. The ' Palo de Vaca' — whether considered in reference to its ' milk,' or rather cream, or its bark — affords phoenomena among the most re- markable of the wonders of vegetation. Both the c milk' and bark contain the elements of nutritious and wholesome food for man, and bread formed of its bark would be almost equal to the cerealia, or that made from corn, — "the finest of the wheat;" — for the immediate or proximate parts of wheaten flourf are found in the bark of the Cow Tree — so that the " Palo de Vaca" yields both bread and milk. * Now Dot only separated into sheets, but formed into //treads ! t The predominant quantity of Gluten in wheat distinguishes it above all other farinaceous srains. FINIS 1'JUNIED BY T. 21. SkELTON, SOCTHAMl'lON. LIST OF fl'ORKS BY JOHN MURRAY, F.S.A., F.L.S., F.H.S., F.G.S., &c. I. ELEMENTS OF CHEMICAL SCIENCE. In 1 vol. 8vo. (Second Edition.) Price 8s. II. PRACTICAL REMARKS ON MODERN PAPER, ETC. In 12mo. Price 4s. III. 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