98 GEOGRAPHY OP PLANTS. 



indeed, it softens any other medicine, however hard 

 its quality. It is also of great service in stopping 

 haemorrhages of the lungs, for which purpose it is 

 taken internally. Nor is this all, for admirable are 

 the virtues of the Usquahuitl. When coagulated 

 it is so strong, that a breast-plate made of it no 

 arrow will pass. Kings and nobles were anciently 

 accustomed to cause it to be made into shoes, and 

 with these they equipped their fools and jesters, 

 that so the poor creatures might make them sport; 

 for they could not step without falling, which, by 

 their awkward gestures, gave rise to much merri- 

 ment. The Spaniards, profiting by what they heard 

 concerning the virtues of the gum, used it in wax- 

 ing their cloaks, which were made of coarse canvass, 

 thus causing them to resist water; and, in truth, it 

 is of great effect in resisting water, but not so the 

 sun, for the rays thereof melt it*." 



It will be interesting to pursue the subject of trees 

 a little further, for the purpose of considering how 

 remarkably some species of forest-trees seem re- 

 stricted to certain portions of the globe. This is 

 very obvious in the Palmetto, or Cabbage- tree 

 (Areca oleraced), which is found in the West 

 Indies, throughout the southern regions of the United 

 States, as far north as Cape Hatteras. It rises to 

 the height of one hundred and forty or fifty feet, 

 and is crowned with a regular and tufted sum- 

 mit. This beautiful and majestic tree is often de- 

 stroyed* for the sake of the white, compact, and 

 tender substance that forms the base of the yet 

 unfolded bunch of leaves, and which, when eaten 



* Monarqui Indiana, Madrid, 1723. 



