264 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No 5 



he confirms Humboldt's accounts of" its nutritive 

 qualities, by remarkintr on the improved condition 

 of both men and brutes during the season in 

 which this milk is had in orreatest abundance; al- 

 thouirh, he observes, "the better conditioned inha- 

 bitants, timid of its effects, and havini? other food, 

 make no other use of it than to besmear straws to 

 catch parrots, by placinfj them across their nests; 

 and, by boiling it with the gum of the manijle 

 tree (?j, tempered vviih wood ashes, producing a 

 glue impervious to moisture." 



He then proceeds to state, that they obtained 

 abundance of the milk, which he describes as be- 

 ing aromatic, sweet, of the thickness of good 

 cream, and so white as to stain substances on which 

 it fell pretty durably. He says, that it mixed as 

 readily with spirits as cow's milk, and, either with 

 it or with water, ibrmed an agreeable beverarpe, of 

 which they drank freely without injury. Thev 

 cut down one of the trees, which he describes as 

 beintr the loftiest of the jorest, in order to obtain 

 specimens, and found that the timber was white, 

 with a fine grain, proper for boards or shintrles. 

 The flowers, which he was informed were verv 

 showy, were gone; but the branches were loaded 

 with iVuit, of about a month old, growing in clus- 

 ters from the alfe of the leaves: they were scab- 

 rous, and about the size of small nutmegs. The 

 leaves he describes as standing on short footstalks, 

 coriaceous, hearted at the base, and marginate, or 

 sometimes pointed at their summit: they were, he 

 says, covered over, to a considerable extent, with 

 large semi-globular glands. He considers this tree 

 as diti'erent from Humboldt's />aZo Je vara; which 

 latter he supposes to be the same with that called 

 lyria in the Checo. In a further part of his letter, 

 Jie speaks of some of the fi-uit of the popa gath- 

 ered by himself" in the wood of the Esca, adjoin- 

 ing Citara, or Quibdo, which he sent to our com- 

 mon friend Mr. Watts; and which, although he 

 was uncertain how far they were sufficiently ma- 

 ture to germinate, were sufficient, he observed, to 

 show that it was not a drupe, but a berry. It ap- 

 pears to me not improbalile, although the observa- 

 tion seems to have escaped even the penetration of 

 Humboldt, that the Chichivhalquehuitl of the 

 Mexicans, spoken of bv Humboldt in the 2d vol. 

 of his Researches, p. 32, on the authoritv of the 

 Codex Vaticaiius Anon., No. 3738, is a species of 

 the palo devaca. The MS. quoted contains, as he 

 informs us, several curiou? fiiriires; and, among the 

 rest, one of the Ckichiuhalquehuiil, tree of milk, 

 or celestial tree, that distils milk from the extremi- 

 ty of its branches, and around which infants are 

 seated who expired a few days after their birth. 



Besides the popa and the lyria, Mr. Higson 

 speaks of another tree, the milk of which is not 

 so palatable, although yielded in flir greater abun- 

 dance. The milk of" this tree, which is called 

 sande, is thinner than the former, of a bluish cast, 

 like skimmed milk, not so pleasant to the taste, and 

 not employed for food; but, in every other respect, 

 closely resembling Humboldt's tree, rising, as Mr. 

 Higson says, like a broad-leaved star apple (Chery- 

 sophyllum Cainlto)., with alternate leaves seated 

 on short petioles, 10 in. or 12 in. long, oblong, 

 ovate, and sharp-pointed, with the veins alternate, 

 and ferruginous underneath. The milk of this 

 tree, inspissated in the lees, acquires the color and 

 consistence of" a black gum, prized as a medicine, 

 especially for external use in splenitis and pleuritis. 



.Such is the estimation in which it is held, that it; 

 sells, even in the vale of the Cauca, for a dollar 

 the pound weight. 



Thus, besides the pain devaca of Humboldt, the 

 locality of" which appears to be limited to the Cor- 

 dillera of the coast, we have here (if we can de 

 pend upon Mr. Higson's account) three other dis- 

 tinct milk trees, yielding a liquor more or less pota- 

 ble, and applicable to various other uses, belong- 

 ing, possibly, to the same genus, or forming dis- 

 tinct genera of" the same family, together with, 

 perhaps, a fourth to be yet sought for amidst the 

 unexplored parts of Mexico, and thus giving a t"ar 

 wider range to liiis valuable production than that 

 assigned by Humboldi. 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 



OIV THE INFLUF-NCK OF BURNT EARTH OIV 

 THE QUANTITY OF SPIRIT IN WINE. 



Cidimibia, Jane 17, 1837. 



Mr. Editor. — I saw accidentally, a French pe- 

 riodical, "Journal de Connoissancs Usuclles and 

 Pratiques, &c." a very interesting publication. 

 One article in it particularlv attracted my atien- 

 tion, and I translate it into English, to be inserted 

 in your Southern Agriculturist, it" you think it 

 worthy of it. 



Yours, respectfully, 



N. Herbemont. 



JBy Mr. Jules Pagezy. 



Chemical experiments liave proven that the 

 quantity of alcohol furnished bj- wine, is always 

 in proportion to the quantity of mucilage and sac- 

 charine matter, Cmucoso suere) contained in the 

 juice of" the grapes. The soil, climate, and the 

 kind of grape, exercise, in this respect on wine, a 

 considerable influence, which is, however, modi- 

 fied by the exposition, the age of the vine, or the 

 manures it receives. It has been asserted that an- 

 imal manures, by increasing the products, impair 

 the quality of the wine, and diminish the ordinary 

 quantity of saccharine matter in the must. Min- 

 eral manures, such as ashes, lime, &c., are too lit- 

 tle used in our part of the country, (the south of 

 France,) because their influence on the produc- 

 tion'of alcohol has not been proved. Here are two 

 observations which might prove that their use 

 may offer advantageous results in argilaceous 

 soils, which constitute a great part of the wine dis- 

 trict in the south of" France. 



In 1831, I cleared, pared and burnt the edges of 

 a vineyard, jilanted in the kind called "Pique- 

 poule," of the age of from 10 to 12 years. The 

 burnt earth was put during the winter, at the feet 

 of" the vines. The crop of wine in 1832, yielded 

 30G lbs. of alcohol per muid, of 90 veltes, about 

 680 litres (a) Mr. Claparede, the elder, a dis- 

 tiller at Montpellier, bought it of me, taking this 

 yield of spirits for the basis of the price, which 

 was ten f"rancs per muid more than the usual price 

 of commerce. I was astonished at the great quan- 

 tity of" spirits which this wine contained, and I ex- 

 plained this fact by attributing it to the exposition of 

 the vineyard, which is most favorable; but I had 

 this year, to seek other causes of a result, more 

 extraordinary than that which I have just stated. 



In the vicinity of the vineyard I have spoken 

 of, there was uncultivated land, that I cleared, 



