666 



FARMERS' REGISTER— RAINING TREES. 



sponofy mass, confaining; a considerable quantity 

 of alinicntarv matter. No root or fibre lias been 

 found adhering to it, so tliat sometimes it has been 

 tlioLiglit to be a sort of terrestrial polypus, possess- 

 ing a principle of animal life. The only indication 

 of its presence which the natives have, is the oc- 

 currence of an exceedingly small leaf, which rises 

 from the earth, and is connected with it by very 

 thin and delicate fibres, which break whenever 

 the tubercle is raised. 



[A substance (called the Tuckahoe) which agrees wiUi 

 the foregoing description in most respects, is found in 

 this 25art of Virginia. It is generally ploughed up on 

 lands wliich have not long been cleared of their origi- 

 nal forest growth ; and this substance is supposed to be 

 a fungus, or excrescence, from the dying root of some 

 J;ree. No leaves, or other products of vegetation are 

 known to proceed from the Tuckahoe.] 



ON RAIKING TUEES. 



By Join Murray, Esq. F. S. Ji. F. L. S. F. G. S. &.c. 



From the Magazine of Nainral History. 



The secretions of trees form a curious part of 

 their physiology, but the influence of vegetation 

 on the atmosphere seems to have been entirely 

 overlooked, at least as far as it regards its meteo- 

 rology. 



In the case of that curious genus of plants, the 

 Sarraceni'a, in which the S. adunca is most con- 

 spicuous, the foliaceous pouch is a mere reservoir, 

 or cistern, to catch and retain the falling dew or 

 rain. In the iVepenthes distillatoria, or pitcher 

 plant, the case is dilferent; and analysis proves it 

 to be an evident secretion from the plant itself, in- 

 dependent altogether of the fact that it is found in 

 the pitcher belbre the lid has yet opened. I may 

 here state, en passant, that the results I obtained 

 from a chemical examination of this liquid, dilfer 

 materially from those of Dr. Edward Turner. 

 The tbrnus mascula is very remarkable for the 

 amount of fluid matter which evolves from its 

 leaves, and the willow and poplar, when grouped 

 more especially, exhibit the phenomenon in the 

 form of a gentle shower. Prince Maximilian, in 

 his Travels in the Brazils, informs us that the na- 

 tives in these districts are well acquainted with the 

 peculiar property of those hollow leaves that actas 

 recipients of the condensed vapors of the atmos- 

 phere; and, doubtless, these are sources where 

 many tropical animals, as well as the wanderiiig 

 savage, sate their thirst " in a weary land." The 

 Tillandsia exhibits a watery feature of a dilferent 

 complexion : here the entire interior is charged 

 with such a supply of liquid, that, when cut, it 

 atFords a copious and refreshing beverage to man. 

 That these extraordinary sources of " living springs 

 of water" are not unknown to inferior creation, is 

 a fact interestingly confirmed to us in the happy 

 incidents detailed by Mr. Campbell, in his Tra- 

 vels in South j/frica^ where a species of mouse is 

 described to us, as storing up sup[)lies of water 

 contained in the berries of particular plants : and in 

 Ceylon, animals of the Simla tribe are said to be 

 well acquainted with the Nepenthes distillatoria, 

 and to have Irequent recourse to its pitcher. The 

 mechanism of the "rose of Jericho" (Anastatica 

 hierochuntina) shows the susceptibility of plants 

 to moisture in a very remarkable manner ; and I 

 have submitted some experiments made ^vith this 



extraordinary exotic, the inhabitant of an arid 

 sandy soil, to the Horticultural Society of Lon- 

 don. That succulents should be found clothing in 

 patches the surface of tlie burning desert is a j)he- 

 nomcnon not the least wonderful in the geographi- 

 cal history of vegetation. 



In Cockburn's Voyages we find an interesting 

 account of a tree in South America, which yieldecl 

 a plentiful supply of water by a kind of distillato- 

 ry process : this tree was met with near the moun- 

 tainous district of Vera Paz. The party were at- 

 tracted to it from a distance, the ground appearing 

 wet around it; and the peculiarity was the more 

 striking, as no rain had tiillen tor six months pre- 

 vious. " At last," says he, " to our great aston- 

 ishment, as well as Joy, we saw water dropping, 

 or, as it were, distilling fast from the end of every 

 leaf of this wonderful tree; at least it was so with 

 us, who had been laboring four clays through ex- 

 treme heat without receiving the least moisture, 

 and were now almost expiring for want of it " 

 The testimony of travellers is too often enshrined 

 among the fabulous ; and their credentials either 

 altogether rejected by some -or at least received 

 " cum granosalis." Bruce of Kinnaird forms the 

 most remarkal)le example of this kind, and the 

 caricature of Baron Munchausen consigned the 

 whole to sarcasm and ridicule ; and yet the time 

 is come when the more remarkable circumstances 

 and phenomena mentioned by this traveller, veri- 

 fied by Lord Valentia, Mr. Salt, &c., are received 

 as well accredited facts. The curious jdienome- 

 non mentioned by Cockburn finds an interesting 

 and beautiful counterpart in two plants ; namely, 

 the Calla ajthiopica and Agapanthus umbellatus, 

 in both of which, after a copious watering, the 

 water w ill be seen to drop from the tips of the 

 leaves; a phenomenon, as far as I know, not 

 hitherto recorded. 



The great rivers of the continent of Europe 

 have their source of supply in the glaciers; but 

 many of the rivers in the new world owe their 

 origin to the extensive forests of America, and 

 their destruction might dry up many a rivulet, 

 and thus again convert the luxuriant valley into 

 an arid and sterile waste ; carried ti^rther, the 

 princijde extends to the great features of the globe. 

 What the glaciers effect among the higher regions 

 of the Alps, the Pinus Cembra and Zarix com 

 munis accomplish at lower elevations; and many 

 a mountain rivulet owes its existence to their in- 

 fluence. It rains often in the woodlands when it 

 rains nowhere else; and it is thus that trees and 

 woods modify the hygrometic character of a coun- 

 try: and I doubt not but, by a judicious disposal 

 of trees of particular kinds, many lands now 

 parched up with drought, as, for example, in some 

 of the Leeward Islands, might be reclaimed from 

 that sterility to which they are unhappily doom- 

 ed. 



In Glass's History of the Canary Islands we 

 have the description of a peculiar tree in the 

 Island of Hierro, which is the means of supplying 

 the inhaln'tants, man as well as inferior animals, 

 with water ; an island which, but for this marvellous 

 adjunct, would be uninhalulable and abandoned. 

 The free is called Til by the people of the island, and 

 has attached to it the epithet garse, or sacred. It 

 is situated on the top of a rock terminating the dis- 

 trict called Tigulatre, \vhich leads from the shore. 

 A cloud of vajior, which seems to rise from the 



