OF BAROX HUMBOLDT. 99 



Malmaison. He himself declared that the 

 numerous trees now to be found in many hot- 

 houses of Europe came originally from the one 

 which he discovered near Mariara. On his re- 

 turn from Porto-Cabello, on the road to the 

 beautiful valley of Araguay, Humboldt met, at a 

 farm called Barbula, the celebrated cow-tree, 

 whose remarkable qualities he had long doubted. 

 Here he stood by the side of this tree, which, 

 by a slight incision, yielded a sweet aromatic 

 milk, and furnished the negro with a healthy 

 kind of food. This tree deserves special notice 

 in the memorable life of Humboldt ; for he him- 

 self stated that, amongst the great number of 

 remarkable phenomena he had witnessed in his 

 travels, few made such a lasting impression 

 upon him as the sight of this cow-tree, because 

 everything related to milk and grain awakens 

 in man involuntarily a lively interest, which has 

 not alone its origin in the desire to become 

 more intimately acquainted with nature and 

 her productions, but which is interwoven with 

 the general idea of mankind, that without milk 

 and grain their existence would have been im- 

 possible. This is probably the origin of the 

 religious veneration with which both ancient and 

 modern peoples have ever regarded corn, and 

 the animal which furnishes milk. The universal 



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