602 BOWMAN— ECOLOGY AND 



smooth greenish brown Rind, but a Pith and a fungous mealy Sub- 

 stance and within no Cavity or Seeds and which never ripens or is 

 otherwise than woody." 



Sloane then goes on and narrates in detail how the " pod-like 

 substance " germinates and produces other trees. His idea is that 

 a single seed is planted in this " substance " and this grows out until 

 it reaches the mud and becomes a tree. He quotes Piso, Oviedo, 

 Marcgraf, Du Tertre, and says he differs from some of them 

 (Oviedo) in regard to the " Pulp." He has made a thorough search 

 in earlier literature in regard to the " Oyster Tree " and the oc- 

 currence of oysters living on the roots and adds his own contribu- 

 tion to the story of the " Oyster Tree." '* In the Isle of Trinidad 

 is a Salt River that had Stores of Oysters on the Branches of the 

 Trees, which were very salt and well tasted. All their Oysters 

 grow upon these Boughs and Spraies and not on the Ground." 

 Sloane also adds some new uses to the already manifold applica- 

 tion of the mangrove cited before. Among some of the uses he sug- 

 gests that perhaps the dried buds have been mistaken by mariners 

 for cloves, thus hinting at food and drug adulteration even at that 

 early date. After mentioning the employment of the wood for 

 building purposes and fuel, he says : " The Bark tans Leather well 

 for Shoe Soal, not for Upper Leathers, or Insides, as it is thus tan'd 

 burning the Skin. . . . The Roots serve for dying of Linens and 

 Leaves for Dung. The bark is used by Tanners and Landresses 

 for cloaths, mixed with Oyl like Dirt it is good against Weariness, 

 and with Milk or fresh Butter, outwardly applyd helpb them who 

 are diseased in their Livers." 



Catesby, 1731,-^ is the last in this series preceding Linnaeus to 

 describe the mangrove in the history of his travels. The type 

 Catesby noted is probably only the " chico mangle," as he says they 

 were only 20 to 30 feet tall. His remarks about the general ap- 

 pearance of the tree and flowers is much like Sloane's, but he de- 

 scribes the fruit as being like a " pear at the small end of which 

 hangs a single seed about six inches in length in form like a Bobbin." 

 Catesby, however, is the first to mention the seedlings as floating 



-" Catesl)y, M., " Nat. Hist. Carolina, Fla. and Bahama Islands," Vol. II., 

 P- 63, 1731- 



