I $8 THE PLANT WORLD. 



rush wildly about and fall. Gold is thought to lie under the place 

 where they drop. 



Datura stramoniinn furnished the drink which enabled the priests 

 of Apollo to prophesy. Their ravings while intoxicated were sup- 

 posed to be the utterances of the deity. 



Many intoxicating drinks are made from the juices of palm trees 

 One such is assai, sold on the streets of Para. It is made from the 

 fruit of Euterpe edulis^ a smooth-stemmed species, 30 feet high, native 

 to Brazil. Between the skin and the kernel of the fruit a small 

 amount of pulpy matter collects, which is rubbed in water, mixed 

 with cassava flour and sugar, then allowed to stand till fermentation 

 takes place. 



Palm wine is obtained from several species of palm — PJiccnix 

 sylvestris, Borassus flabelliforiiiis and others. A man cliTnbs the tree 

 to its top, cuts the flowering spadix before it expands, and hangs a 

 vessel underneath to catch the juice. Every morning he climbs the 

 tree, empties the vessel and leaves it again to be filled. He is called 

 the milkman or cow man. When fresh this is a wholesome drink; 

 fermented it is intoxicating. A palm in Borneo will yield one gallon 

 a day for two months. By boiling this wine a good sugar is obtained. 



The Cohune palm exudes sap or wine from its trunk. It is cut 

 down, the cut end is raised a little, an incision is made near the other 

 end, a vessel is placed underneath, and the liquor flows in, often con- 

 tinuously for days and weeks. The nuts of this palm give a valuable 

 oil. 



The black birch {Betiila nigra) contains sugar in its sap, which 

 flows freely in the spring and which is used to make a pleasant birch 

 wine. 



There is a remarkable member of the Cashew-nut family, 

 Spondias dulcis, found in Otaheite. It produces aerial roots, which as 

 they appear above ground expand and make large, black, hollow 

 tubers, cellular in structure, each one containing about a pint of 

 water, destined for the plant's supply in hot weather. It forms a re- 

 freshing drink for travelers. 



Palm honey is the sap thickened by boiling till it is of the con- 

 sistency of treacle. There are several species of palms which pro- 

 duce so-called honey, one of the best and best known being JiibcBa 

 spcctabilis, a native of Chili. It also is obtained by the wasteful 

 method of felling the trees. 



Several trees are called cow-trees, from their abundant yield of 

 milky sap. Brosimum galactrodendron grows in Venezuela, making 

 large forests of noble trees, each from 80 to 100 feet in height. P'rom 

 incisions made in the bark the milk flows freely. The natives are 



