182 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Aug. 1, 1SC9. 



A REMARKABLE TRIO. 



IT is rather singular that three trees, so widely 

 separated in their properties as the Breadfruit, 

 the Cow, and the Upas, should nevertheless be nearly 

 related, and all members of one and the same family, 

 the Artocarpece of R. Brown. The first-named, the 

 Breadfruit (Artocarpus), which, in fact, gives its 

 name to the order, is common in the islands of the 

 Southern Ocean, and is cultivated in many parts 

 of the tropical world. Indeed, it was when Captain 

 Bligh was on a voyage to introduce the Artocarpus 

 incisa into our West Indian possessions, that the 

 famous " Mutiny of the Bounty " occurred in the 

 year 1787. The attempt was more successful in 

 1793. The great value of the tree consists in its 

 fruit, which constitutes an important article of food. 

 When nearly ripe, it weighs three or four pounds, 

 and is as large as the head of a young child ; is of a 

 greenish colour, and enclosed in a thick rind. The 

 soft, tender interior can easily be divided or sliced, 

 and forms an excellent dish when cooked, 'having 

 the appearance of new bread, with something of the 

 flavour of the artichoke. In many of the Pacific 

 islands it affords the principal means of support 

 to the natives through a large part of the year. 

 Another species, the Jack (A. integrifolia), has a 

 much larger and longer fruit, of a pear shape, 

 eighteen inches in length, and often weighing thirty 

 or forty pounds. It is utilized in the same way as 

 the true Breadfruit, but is not considered so great 

 a delicacy. The Cow-tree {Galactodendron) is of 

 benefit to mankind in a totally different manner. 

 One of the peculiarities of the Artocarpus family is 

 the presence in the stem, leaves, fruit, &c, of a 

 milk-like juice, which is usually of a poisonous 

 nature ; but even if innocuous, is not generally pro- 

 duced iu sufficient quantities to make it of any 

 service. In the Cow-tree, however, this fluid is not 

 only without injurious properties, but exists so 

 abundantly, that when an incision is made in the 

 trunk, a copious stream issues forth, in no respect 

 inferior to the milk proceeding from the cow. 

 Humboldt, who was the first to publish a notice of 

 the Galactodendron, says : " Eor many weeks we 

 had heard a great deal of a tree, whose juice is 

 a nourishing milk ; an assertion which startled us 

 the more, as almost all lactescent vegetable fluids 

 are acrid, bitter, and more or less poisonous. 

 Experience, however, proved to us, during our re- 

 sidence at Barbula, that the virtues of the Cow- 

 tree, or Palo de Vaca, have not been exaggerated. 

 It was offered to us in calabashes, and, though we 

 drank large quantities of it, both at night before 

 going to bed and again early the following morning, 

 we experienced no uncomfortable ..effects. The 

 viscidity of this milk alone renders it rather un- 

 pleasant to those who are unaccustomed to it. The 



negroes and free people, who work in the planta- 

 tions, use it by soaking in it bread made from 

 maize, manioc, aropa, and cassava." This mar- 

 vellous tree appears to be confined to the mountain- 

 ranges on the northern coast of Venezuela, where 

 it is" found at a height of 1,000 or 1,200 feet above 

 the sea-level. Its trunk frequently has a circum- 

 ference of eisrht feet, with a white close-grained 

 wood, not unlike that of the Box. The third mem- 

 ber of this remarkable trio is as noted for its evil 

 qualities as its relatives are for their useful pro- 

 perties : I allude to the " deadly Upas-tree " of Java 

 (Anliaris toxicaria). Were we bound to believe all 

 the stories which travellers have reported of it, we 

 should see before us a sort of vegetable monster 

 without an equal in its death-dealing powers. A 

 fountain of pure prussic acid, or a permanent 

 column of unadulterated carbonic acid, would be 

 mild and wholesome compared with the exhalations 

 which are said to proceed from the Upas ! Standing 

 alone in a desert of its own making, no plants can 

 raise their heads where its shadow falls, no animal 

 can approach within half a mile of its fatal vapours ; 

 the very birds are stricken to the earth by the 

 subtle poison which rises from its broad summit into 

 mid air. Even to come near the tree, for the pur- 

 pose of extracting the poisonous juice from its stem, 

 was a work of so much danger as to be performed 

 only by the worst of criminals. Eortunately for the 

 world, all these tales are pure fiction, without a 

 shadow of truth. It lives in the midst of dense 

 forests ; birds perch on its ample boughs, and wild 

 animals prowl under them with impunity. The 

 truth seems to be that the low grounds in Java, hot 

 and humid, are rank with malaria, and occasion- 

 ally productive of carbonic acid in large quantities, 

 like the Grotto del Cane near Naples; and con- 

 sequently very prejudicial to human life. Eor some 

 inscrutable reason, the Upas has to bear the blame, 

 which is really due to totally different causes. The 

 only certainty in " this strange eventful history " is 

 that the Upas, on being wounded, gives out a thick 

 milky fluid, which, unlike that of its relative the 

 Palo de Vaca, is to the last degree poisonous, and 

 under the name of Antjar, is employed by the 

 natives on their arrow and spear-heads with terrible 

 effect. W. W. Spicee. 



DR. THUDICHUM'S RABBIT. 



POOR brute ! could it speak, what a long dole- 

 ful story would it tell of cutting and maim- 

 ing, and divers other species of torment, and what 

 a reply would it make to the complaint of our 

 aristocratic landlords at its innocent depredations ! 

 Dr. Thudichum's rabbit is dead. It's no use 

 putting the Roman capitals at the termination 

 thereof; had the quadruped been decently and 

 quietly buried, we might have added R.I.P. to its 



