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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the sand-box, had been the cause of the disaster. Travelers relate 

 many interesting and curious stories about the sand-box. 



One day, seeing some curious-looking pods in a store, we in- 

 quired where they grew, and were directed to the yard of a good- 

 natured and amiable negro woman. She designated two large trees 

 as the King and Queen; a very pretty idea, since they are dioecious — 

 that is, one bears unfertile or staminate flowers only, and corresponds 

 to the male, while the other bears fertile or pistillate flowers only, 

 and corresponds to the female. The latter is the pod-bearing tree, 



Monkey Tamarind Trees. 



and the smaller of the two. The trees are very old, one having a 

 girth of twenty feet at six feet from the ground. Its name, monkey 

 tamarind (Adansonia digitata), is given from the fact that in 

 Jamaica monkeys are sometimes caught while attempting to obtain 

 the seeds from the large woody pods which the tree produces. The 

 true tamarind (Tamarindus indica) of the West Indies is also a 

 large tree with delicate spreading foliage, and is distinguished by its 

 brown leguminous pods. We bought these at the market and ate 

 the acid pulp which surrounds the seeds. With the aid of sugar 

 it makes a palatable drink. When sold for commerce, and used 

 for medicinal purposes, the pods are removed, but the seeds remain 

 connected together by a fibrous string. There are several species 



