64 



NATURE 



[November 21, 1895 



books : it requires, of necessity, a thorough theoretical and practical 

 training. The control of disinfection is in the majority of cases 

 left in the hands of police officials who have no knowledge of 

 the subject whatever, and thus numerous mistakes are made, and 

 much unnecessary damage to property ensues. . . For cholera- 

 disinfection, in my opinion, special courses of instruction should 

 be provided for disinfectors in both the theoretical and practical 

 application of the subject." 



We cordially commend the perusal of this valuable report to 

 our own public authorities, who might, thereby^ possibly be 

 stimulated to take some serious and effective steps in staying the 

 ravages of, to us, a far more deadly enemy, i.e. diphtheria. The 

 Hamburg cholera disaster has not been without its lesson to 

 Germany ; surely we need wait no longer for our authorities 

 to be similarly roused to successfully combat diphtheria. 



G. C. Frankland. 



A JAMAICA DRIFT-FRUIT. 



'T'HE dispersal of plants by oceanic currents is a subject 

 full of interest, and no apology is needed in bringing it 

 forward if thereby we stimulate those who have opportunities 

 for observing the effects of this agency in various parts of the 

 world. The valuable contribution made to the literature of the 

 subject by Mr. W. B. Hemsley, F.R.S., in the " Botany of the 

 Challenger,''' and since added to by himself, Mr. Guppy, and 

 others, cannot fail to enlarge our knowledge in regard to the origin 

 of plant-life on oceanic islands as well as on the littoral of much 

 larger areas. Our first acquaintance with the fruit of the 

 remarkable Lodoicea of the Seychelles, for instance, was as a waif 

 floating on the surface of the sea, and hence one of its familiar 

 names Coco-de-mer. In the West Indies the ripe fruits of a 

 palm unknown in the Greater Antilles are continually brought 

 lay the Gulf Stream from the south, and washed ashore at 

 Jamaica and other places. These are locally called " Sea 

 apples " or " Sea cocoa-nuts." They are the fruits of the Bussu 

 palm {Manicaria saccifera), found in Trinidad and the adjacent 

 mainland of South America. The white kernel is sometimes 

 fresh enough to be eaten after long immersion in salt water. 

 This fruit was gathered by Sloane as long ago as 1687, and he 

 remarked that it was frequently cast on the north-west islands of 

 Scotland by the currents and the sea. The seeds of the Cocoon 

 (Entada scandens), large brown beans about two inches in 

 diameter, are so frequently cast ashore in various parts 

 of the world, that they are commonly called "Sea-beans." 

 Several plants have been raised at Kew from seeds picked up 

 at the Azores. It is also mentioned by Robert Brown that a 

 plant of CiEsalpima Bonduc was raised from a seed found 

 stranded on the west coast of Ireland. Linnseus also seems to 

 have been acquainted with instances of germination having taken 

 place in seeds thrown ashore on the coast of Norway. These are 

 well-known and familiar examples of drift-fruits. The record 

 might be considerably enlarged without more than touching on 

 the fringe of the subject. It is hoped that botanists in suitable 

 localities will give attention to this comparatively unworked field 

 of investigation, and record the results of their observations. 



In Nature (vol. xxxix. p. 322), I gave an account, with 

 woodcuts, of a drift-fruit that was collected on the shores of 

 Jamaica. This had a very singular history. It had, in the 

 first instance, been gathered nearly three hundred years ago, and 

 presented by Jacob Plateau to Clusius. It was figured and 

 described by many of the older botanists, but up to the time of 

 writing in 1889 the plant bearing it had not been identified. 

 The object I had in view in drawing attention to it in the 

 columns of Nature, was to enlist the interest of those likely 

 to throw light upon its origin, and lead eventually to its 

 identification. 



Former History. 



It is somewhat remarkable that a drift-fruit so plentifully 

 brought by the Gulf Stream, and cast ashore in the West Indies 

 and elsewhere, should have been so long a mystery. 



The first notice, so far as I can gather, is given with a wood- 

 cut, by Clusius, in his "Exoticorum libri decem," lib. ii. cap. 19. 

 This work bears the date of 1605. The following is Clusius' 

 description, which is reproduced as it appears in the original, 

 together with his representation of the fruit : — 



NO. 1360, VOL. 53] 



Exotici friuius a Jacobo Plateau Ss' aliis accepti. 

 Cap. xix. 



Aliquot exoticos fructus mittebat ad me Jacobus Plateau, quum 

 intelligeret me Exoticorum Historian! scribere, ut quantum 

 posset meos conatus etiam in hac materia juvaret, sed quos, 

 prseter binos, jam ante videram & descripseram. 



Binos igitur illos, quos dixi mihi ante non fuisse conspectos, 

 cum binis aliis aliunde acceptis, in tabella exprimi curabam quam 

 hie subjicio. Primus illorum quos Plateau mutuo dabat, binas 

 uncias cum semisse longus erat, quatuor in ambitu crassus, cine- 



Drift-fruit (after Clusius). 



racei coloris, quem aliquo operimento tectum fuisse arbitrabar : 

 in quinque partes dividi posse, venas per longitudinem ductte 

 indicabant ; alioqui eminentibus aliquot tuberculis instar vesicu- 

 larum obsitus erat, quae aperta, inanes & insequales lacunas 

 ostendebant spadicei coloris «& splendentes, quasi semen ali- 

 quod continuissent : valde durus autem erat is fructus, & 

 adstringente facultate prteditus. 



About sixty years afterwards, Johannes Jonston, in '* Historia 

 Naturalibus de Arboribus et Fructibus" (1662), p. 102, refers to 

 the same fruit. In 1680 both the description and figure given 

 by Clusius were reproduced by J. Bauhin in "Historia Plan- 

 tarum," tom. i. lib. 3, cap. cxi. fig. i. It is next mentioned in 

 Sloane's " Catalogus Plantarum " (1696), p. 214, in the follow- 

 ing words : " Fructum nunc saepissime collegi in Insula? Jamaica? 

 littus ejectum cum aliis maris recrementis." The fruit itself was 

 recognised in 1889 by Mr. E. fi. Baker, as existing in the 

 Sloane Collection in the British Museum (Natural History) 

 where it is labelled " No. 1656." Further, in 1764, a small and 

 somewhat unsatisfactory figure was given in " Petiveri Opera," 

 t. Ixxi., fig. 5, with the information : " It is a hard oval fruit 

 with seed-holes round its surface. Cat. 605. Found on the 

 shores of Jamaica. " In all the cases enumerated above, it is repre- 

 sented in its water- worn condition as given in Fig. i below. It is 

 a hard bony fruit, about an inch and a half to two inches long, 

 marked externally with mammillated protuberances correspond- 

 ing (as shown in Figs. 2 and 3) with numerous cavities or resin- 

 cysts existing in its walls. In the transverse section. Fig. 2, it 

 may be seen that the fruit is normally five-celled, but two are 

 suppressed. The seeds are solitary, and contain abundant 

 albumen. There is no doubt it was once a drupaceous fruit, but 

 the fleshy outer layer or sarcocarp has decayed or worn away by 

 the action of water. What is now left is, in many respects, so 

 unlike the fruit in the fresh state, that its origin must always 

 have been somewhat difficult to trace. 



In passing, it may be noticed that it possesses ideal qualities as 

 a drift-fruit. The numerous closed cavities contained in the walls 

 render it very buoyant, and easily influenced by the action of the 

 wind, while its hard texture and the presence of resin preserve it 

 from becoming water-logged or decayed. There is no record 

 that the seeds have germinated after long immersion in salt 

 water, or that the plant has established itself in a new locality 

 outside its present area. These are interesting points for further 

 observation. 



Recent History. 



The chapter in the recent history of tiie fruit opened in 1884. 

 It was then collected, by the writer, with other drift-fruits on the 

 sandy-spit of land known as the Palisadoes enclosing Kingston 

 Harbour, Jamaica. On this land the Botanical Department had 



