xx THORNS 255 



until they are four or six inches long, then fall to the 

 ground, take root, and produce a new plant. Bulbils are 

 often present on sisal plants in great numbers. 



Men universally curse thorns, and it is useful to 

 remember that the production of thorns is one of the 

 consequences of Adam's unfortunate error in eating 

 Eve's apple (Gen. iii. 18). Animals have just as 

 much reason to dislike thorns. On many African trees 

 and bushes thorns are not only sharp and long, but 

 brittle, and break off when they penetrate the flesh. 

 Roosevelt, describing his hunting experiences along 

 the Guaso Nyero, refers to mimosas with long straight 

 thorns which are so plentiful "that almost all the lions 

 have festering sores in their paws because of the spines 

 which have broken off in them." Reference has 

 already been made to the frequent suffering and pain 

 thorns cause the natives and porters who traverse the 

 Nyika and forests (p. 168). Some are so sharp and 

 long that the natives use them as " hair-lip pins " for 

 bringing the edges of flesh wounds together (p. 114). 



Around Nairobi, and especially in the gardens of 

 Entebbe, a handsome solanum tree flourishes and bears 

 flowers like those of the potato. It has large green 

 laurel-like leaves, and on the stalk of each leaf there is 

 a formidable curved thorn an inch long. 



A curious tree, termed Acacia fistulosa by Schwein- 

 furth, has an Arabian name, "sorfar," which signifies a 

 flute or pipe. It appears that the larvae of insects work 

 their way into the bases of the young thorns, which 

 then swell into globular bladders an inch in diameter. 

 The mature insect escapes from this chamber by a 

 circular opening. This hole in the hollow bulb at the 

 base of the thorn causes it to emit a flute-like sound 

 when the wind plays upon it. 



Schillings, in describing the " Lonely wonder-world 

 of the Nyika," refers to the strange melody produced by 

 the wind playing through a grove of acacias beset with 

 these curious yEolian harps. He also mentions that 



