Nature's Magic 



REDISCOVEHV UF A KEMAHKAHLE Wool). FIKST KNOWN IN THE SIX- 

 TEENTH CENTL'RV. WHICH PRODUCES WITH WATER A BEAUTIFUL 

 OPALESCENCE NOT YET EXPLAINED BY SCIENCE ' 



]W W I L L I A M E. S A F F O R D 



Ecoiioniic Botanist. United States Department of Agrievili ure 



IN a velhuii cdxcrctl Ixiok pi'intcd in 

 Seville in 1")T4 tlici'c is an account 

 of a strange wood which liad the 

 effect of imparting to water a blue 

 color. This wood was carried to p]u- 

 rope from Xew Spain in great quanti- 

 ties, and it was supposed to be efficacious 

 for certain diseases of the kidneys and' 

 liver. So great was the demand for it 

 that it was often counterfeited, and 

 many kinds of wood were offered foi' 

 sale under its name; but the attempted 

 fraud could be detected easily, for, as 

 the author warns the public, the wood 

 must make the water blue, and "if it 

 does not make it blue it is not the true 

 kind ; for they are now bringing a wood 

 that makes the water yellow, and this is 

 not the one wdiich is efficacious, but that 

 which makes the water 1)lue ; for the 

 kind tliat will make it Muc is the true 

 wood.""- 



A wood possessing such rare qualities 

 could not fail to attract the attention 

 of the world and induce scientific re- 

 search as to the source of its mysterious 

 powers. There was, however, consid- 

 erable confusion regarding the identity 

 of J\()nuiii nephritinini. as this wood 

 was called in Europe, and its true ori- 

 gin remained unknow^n for centuries. 

 Pieces carried to Spain were apparently 

 taken from large trees, yet Francisco 

 Hernandez, who was sent by Philip 11 

 to study the resources of Mexico, antl 

 who returned about the time the above 

 account was published, was able to 

 obtain specimens of only a small tree 



- Monardes, Histor'm nicdicmal de las cosas que 

 se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales que sirven 

 en medicina, pp. 24. 58a. 59; 1574. 



or shrid). called by the Aztecs coatl or 

 codUi (snake water). He described 

 this as having pinnately compound 

 ]ea\t's like those of a chick-pea, but 

 smaller, and spikes of small longish 

 flowers: but he gave no illustration of 

 it. His somewhat confused account 

 was translated into Spanish from the 

 Latin in Kilo by Fray Francisco Xime- 

 ncz. who. Iiowcvcr. did nothing to clear 

 \\\) its vagueness. 



About thirty years later a celelu'ated 

 German Jesuit living in Home had his 

 attention called to the peculiar qualities 

 of this wood on being presented with a 

 cup made of it by the procurator of the 

 Society of Jesus of Mexico. This eu]) 

 he afterward sent to his Sacred Maj- 

 esty, the Emperor, as something rare 

 and little known. In his account pub- 

 lished in 1646'^ he described cups made 

 from the wood, the source of which was 

 unknown to him, stating that they 

 turned the water not only blue but all 

 kinds of colors. He says : 



"The wood of the tree thus described, 

 when made into a cup, tinges water 

 when poured into it at first a deep blue, 

 the color of a Bugioss flower ; and the 

 longer the water stands in it the deeper 

 the color it assumes. If then the water 

 is poured into a glass globe and held 

 against the light, no vestige of the blue 

 water will be seen, but it will appear to 

 observers like pure clean spring water, 

 limpid and clear. But if you move this 

 glass phial toward a more shady place 

 the liquid will assume a most delight- 

 ful greenness, and if to a still more 



■■ Kerelierius. Athanasiiis, Ar.s Mnr/nn Liicig el 

 Umbrai'. ji. 77. 1646. 



1 Publislied with the permission of the Secretary of Agriculture 



4S 



