310 AROUND THE WORLD VIA INDIA. 



the most valuable and interesting specimens Avill find 

 a permanent resting place for the benefit of future gen- 

 erations of natives and visitors. 



It is high time that in the three great cities of Cal- 

 cutta, Bombay, and Madras, associations of Indian art 

 should be founded for the purpose of collecting and pre- 

 serving specimens of ancient Indian art, and with the 

 object of encouraging the native artists of to-day by 

 patronizing them instead of importing furniture from 

 foreign countries and imitating the artless style of the 

 buildings of the Europeans. For the benefit of natives 

 as well as of travelers, India should remain specifically 

 Indian in dress, customs, agriculture, and especially in 

 art. 



NOTABLE MEDICINAL TREES OF INDIA. 



On landing at Tuticurin I came face to face with two 

 trees that I never lost sight of on my long railway 

 journey — the palmyra palm and the nim tree. The 

 palmyra palm (Borassus flabelliformis) is a hardy, noble 

 tree, and attains a height of 100 feet. The base of 

 the stem is large and gradually tapers into the stem 

 proper, which has a uniform thickness up to the very 

 crown. The bark is almost black and indented with cir- 

 cular rings. The crown of fronds is small compared 

 with the size of the tree. In southern India the leaves 

 are used for roofing, and nearly all the trees have been 

 pruned down to six or eight fronds. The pulp of the 

 fruit .serves as food. Enormous masses of sugar and 

 toddy are produced in India from the sap which flows 

 from incisions of the stalk of the unexpanded flowers. 

 This tree is noted for its longevity, and trees 200 years 

 old are by not means rare. The Mohammedans are 

 supposed to be total abstainers, but not invariably so, 

 as I learned from a little story related to me in India. 

 A man who owned a number of these palm trees, and 

 who had bled them for the purpose of supplying himself 

 with the much cherished toddy, noticed that much of 



