YUCCA ZEISBERGEB. 



799 



relief of the deserving destitute poor of the com- 

 munity. 



lu reviewing the work of the American associa- 

 tions since the close of the civil war, the following 

 points seem worthy of spue-in! notice : 1. The Ameri- 

 can associations have sought to give rightful promi- 

 nence to specific work for the improvement of young 

 men. 2. They have maintained their organizations 

 for the purpose of associating Christian young men 

 in this work for their fellows. 3. They have in- 

 sisted that this improvement is to be sought 

 primarily by the conversion of the soul and the 

 "consecration of the life to the love and service of 

 Jesus Christ. 4. They have united Christians of 

 the various churches in this work and in other work 

 that can best be performed by united effort. 5. In 

 summer they hold hundreds of open-air services every 

 week. tj. In thinly settled districts they have united 

 the active members of various churches in holding 

 meetings in homes and school-houses. 7. They carry 

 the gospel among the 800,000 railroad employes of 

 the country. 8. They organize the young men in 

 colleges for Christian work. 9. They co-operate 

 with German-speaking Christian young men for 

 the salvation of their fellows. 10. They bring to- 

 gether into Christian sympathy and companionship 

 the young men of Canada and the United States, 

 the young men of the North and the South, so 

 promoting peace upon earth, good will to men. 11. 

 This broad, deep work they accomplish by insisting 

 that Christian laymen are called of God to give time 

 and elfort as well as money to active service in 

 winning souls and leading them to Christ. 12. 

 While these associations are each individually active 

 in carrying on this varied and useful work, they also 

 meet yearly in international, state and provincial 

 conventions, and by means of deliberative action 

 and efficient committees promote the common cause. 



The several states have passed law* incorporating 

 nearly all of these associations within their-Dorden. 

 A state executive committee of the Young Men's 

 Christian associations of the State of New Vnrk 

 was incorporated in li-WO. The same state, in iss-:!, 

 parsed a law Incorporating the International Com- ' 

 mittee of Young Men's Christian Associations. 

 This committee is to be composed of not less than 

 27 members, one-third of whom are to be elected 

 at each of the international conventions. 



As a conseiiui -nee of the great and good work 

 ai-coinplishi'd by the Young Men's ( 'hristian Asso- j 

 elation. Women'* Christian Associations have also 

 been organized to carry on a similar work among 

 female.. (F. O. M.) 



YUCCA, a peculiar genus of the family of Lili- 



OCE, which is a native of North America, ' 

 \\iv" ! from New Jersey and Iowa to Yucatan, 

 7eo (p S'w a "^ ' s most Abundant between 25 and 

 Am. Rep ).' '*"> M'- 1'it. There are about a dozen well 

 characterized fipeciet and many varieties, 

 the stems of the more northerly species being under- 



ground, and sending up a tuft of bayonet or dagger- 

 shaped leaves ; while the more southerly have an 

 aerial stem, palm-like in some species, the trunk, 

 which reaches 10 to 20 feet in height, being crowned 

 with a dense tuft of leaves. The yucca is known by 

 various common names, as bear-grass, Adam's 

 needle, and Spanish bayonet. Y. Jilanientosu, to 

 which the tirst two of these names are given, is 

 found in sandy soil from Florida to Virginia and 

 westward. The trunk rises to a foot or less above 

 the ground, and is crowned with the lance-shaped, 

 unarmed, coriaceous leaves, which bear delicate 

 filaments on the margins. It is from these threads 

 and the sharp-pointed leaves that the name Adam's 

 needle is derived. 1'. angiistifolia, which is abun- 

 dant between the Mississippi and the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, is known as the soap plant, the root stocks of 

 this as of other species being full of mucilaginous 

 and saponaceous material, which, under the name 

 of aniole, is used as a substitute for soap in many 



I Mexican houses, and also by the negroes of the 

 South. Its' leaves are from 1 to 3 feet long, and 



j very stiff and pointed. 



Two other United States species, Y. aloifoHa, the 

 Spanish bayonet, and Y. (jloriosa, occur from North 

 Carolina southward. The latter gets its title from 

 its magnificent inflorescence. The flowers of the 

 yucca are borne on a flower stem, which rises from 

 the centre of the leaves, and bears a large panicle 

 of snowy white, lily-like blossoms, which are at trac- 

 tive at all hours, but particularly so in the eveninir, 

 when the flowers are fully expanded. The fruit of 

 the yucca is dry in some species, fleshy in others, 

 and in the latter case.-, is edible and savory. It is 

 eaten by the negroes of the coast regions of South 

 Carolina and Georgia under the name of banana, 

 which it somewhat resembles. The fruit of Y. 

 baccata, a species of Arizona and the neighboring 

 States, is largely eaten in the fresh state by whites 

 and Indians, and is cured by the Indians for winter 

 use. The roots of some species abound in farina, 

 and are used by the Indians as food. Another 

 species is Y. recurvifolia, of the sea-coast of Georgia, 

 whose- white flowers are occasionally tinged with 

 green and purple. 



Several species of yucca are planted for ornament 

 in landscape gardening, while all the plants of the 

 genus have an important economical use, as they 

 yield a fibre of great strength and value. Sisal hemp 

 comes from a member of this genus, and from the 

 leaves of every species may be obtained a long staple. 

 }'. i/1'n-iosa furnishes a fibre of extreme durability, 

 which is used for cordage, rope, and packing cloth. 

 Y. flimientOKU also yields a strong fibre, from which 

 ropes have been made of unsurpassed strength. As 

 these plants grow spontaneously on light sandy 

 soils, often of the poorest character, from Virginia 

 to Florida, and are very hardy, they may become of 

 considerable economic value as fibre-yielding plants. 



(c. M.) 



/F.i 'I I A IM ATI. See PiiorilKTR. 



/KIMJKKI.KK, DAVID < 1721-lHOrt), missionary 

 to the American Indians, was born April 11, ISi'l, 

 at Xauehtepthal, Morovia,and educated at Ilerrnhut. 

 In 17,'W he followed his parents, who were descended 

 from the Hohemian Hrethren, to Georgia and two 

 later removed with them to Pennsylvania, 

 and had a share in founding Hethlehem and Na/a- 

 reth. In 174:', In- narrowly escaped being sent back 

 to Germany with Zinzendorf. In 174") he In-gan to 

 jin-aeh and labor among the Dclawares at Shamo- 

 kin, and soon transferred his efforts to the Iroquois 



at Onandaga, N. Y. For C3 years he lived in the 

 woods, devoted to his pious calling, in which he dis- 

 played zeal and fortitude not surpassed by any of 

 the Canadian Jesuits, taking long journeys on foot 

 and by canoe, indifferent to hardships and perils. 

 At first he met a good degree of apparent success ; 

 the Six Nations adopted him (as did afterwards the 

 Monseys), made him a sachem, and entrusted him 

 with their records. The commotions of those times 

 sadly disturbed and interrupted his peaceful work, 

 and between contending parties or armies, he was 

 exposed to troubles and suspicions, as in the French 



