THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 47 



plete, and it was left for Humboldt to describe the tree. 

 We quote the passage : 



" While these trees present the remarkable feature 

 of furnishing man with his bread all ready made by 

 the benevolent hand of Nature, he seeks his daily 

 bread in other less favored regions in every plant 

 that grows around him. From the lofty bread-tree 

 through the whole scale of trees and shrubs and lowly 

 plants, there are but few which he has not learned to 

 convert into nourishing food ; and when at last the 

 earth seems to refuse him further aid, he digs beneath 

 the surface or dives into the water to bring back with 

 him the desired supply. One of the most remarkable 

 plants of the latter class is the Edible Arum (Colo- 

 casia Fsculenta], the roots of which, if properly pre- 

 pared, furnish a palatable dish. But the plant has 

 another and even more striking peculiarity. It liter- 

 ally distils water and launches tiny drops in the form 

 of a jet from the pores at the end of its magnificent, 

 heart-shaped leaves. A careful and ingenious observer 

 ascertained that from 10 to 100 drops of water were 

 thrown every minute to a distance of an inch and 

 more." 



" In returning from Porto Cabello we rested at 

 the Barbula plantation. We had heard for some 

 weeks about a tree -the juice of which was milk fit 

 for food. The tree was called Palo de Yaca, and we 

 were assured that the negroes of the plantation large- 

 ly used this vegetable milk, regarding it as healthy 

 and nutritious. As all milky juices of plants are 

 acrid, bitter, and more or less poisonous, this assertion 



