224 
NATURE 
xxvii. p. 171, that Huc’s “tree of ten thousand images” | 
is nothing more than a common white lilac. Myths of 
this kind I have generally found to have some substratum 
of fact at the bottom. They can be rationalised, and 
mere explosion does not seem to be a satisfactory way of 
getting rid of them. 
Now our knowledge of the indigenous vegetation of 
China is painfully limited. An immense portion of the 
flora is doubtless gone beyond recovery in the cultivated 
districts. Remnants of the primitive, wide-spreading 
forest remain, however, in the precincts of temples and 
monasteries, and these woods have always yielded 
novelties to botanists who have examined them. It had 
seemed, therefore, little short of certain that the sacred 
tree of Kum-bum would be something of considerable 
scientific interest if specimens of it could be got hold of. 
The only edition of Huc at hand to refer to is Hazlitt’s 
translation, published by Thomas Nelson and Sons in 
1856, The well-known account of the tree will be found 
on pp. 324-6. According to Huc, thename Kum-bum, or 
as he spells it, Koun-boum, consists of ‘“‘two Thibetan 
words signifying ten thousand images, and having allu- 
sion to the tree which, according to the legend, sprang 
from Tsong-Kaba’s hair, and bears a Thibetan character 
on each of its leaves.” Now, according to Kreitner, as 
quoted by Mr. Keane,“ the Abbé Huc tells us that its 
leaves bear the natural impress of Buddha's likeness and 
of the Thibetan alphabet.’ As a matter of fact, he does 
not say anything like this. What he does say is as 
follows :— 
“There were upon each of the leaves well-formed 
. | 
Thibetan characters, all of a green colour, some darker, | 
some lighter than the leaf itself. Our first impression 
was a suspicion of fraud on the part of the Lamas, but, 
after a minute examination of every detail, we could not 
discover the least deception. The characters all ap- 
peared to us portions of the leaf itself, equally with its | 
veins and nerves; the position was not the same in all; 
in one leaf they would be at the top of the leaf, in another 
in the middle, in a third at the base, or at the side; the 
younger leaves represented the characters only in a 
partial state of formation. The bark of the tree and its 
branches, which resemble that of the plane-tree, are also 
covered with these characters. When you remove a 
piece of old bark, the young bark under it exhibits the 
individual outlines of characters in a germinating state, 
and, what is very singular, these new characters are not 
unfrequently different from those which they replace.” 
OF the tree itself as Huc saw it some forty years ago, 
he gives the following account :— 
“The tree of the Ten Thousand Images seemed to us 
of great age. Its trunk, which three men could scarcely 
embrace with outstretched arms, is not more than eight 
feet high; the branches, instead of shooting up, spread 
out in the shape of a plume of feathers, and are extremely 
bushy ; few of them are dead. The leaves are always 
green, and the wood, which is of a reddish tint, has an 
exquisite odour, something like that of cinnamon. The 
Lamas informed us that in summer, towards the eighth 
moon, the tree produces huge red flowers of an extremely 
beautiful character.” 
Hazlitt’s translation contains two woodcuts, one (p. 
325) of the tree with its canopy, the other (p. 369) of a 
leaf with its markings. What the history of these illus- 
trations is, there is nothing to show; Huc’s book in the 
original French had, I think, none. The leaf with its 
markings has a by no means impossible appearance ; 
whether the markings are like Thibetan characters, I can- 
not say. The outline of the leaf is not unlike that of a 
fuchsia, but it would not pass for a lilac. 
I suspect, then, that there really was in Huc’s time a 
tree with markings on the leaves, which the imagination 
of the pious assimilated to Thibetan characters. Perhaps 
it was the last local relic of some unknown endemic tree; 
in Hongkong I believe many of the endemic species are 
represented by but a few individuals. It may well have 
died and been replaced by a lilac, and the genuine 
markings by the fudged-up image of Budha “etched 
with some acid on the leaves.’’ 
It is disappointing that Szechenyi’s expedition seems 
to have done nothing for botany. As Grisebach says, 
“We can only guess at the richness of the Chinese flora.” 
Every now and then some one is induced to collect a few 
plants, and almost invariably they contain something new 
to science. A more extended knowledge of Chinese 
plants is now essential to a right understanding of 
the phyto-geographical facts of the north temperate 
flora. Unfortunately, the numerous Europeans who visit 
China are occupied with political, religious, or commer- 
cial business, with little time for subsidiary pursuits. 
But any of them who may chance to read these lines, 
may rest assured that they will be really doing a useful 
work by collecting and drying even a few wz/d plants in 
their respective neighbourhoods. 
Kew W. T. THISELTON DYER 
NORWEGIAN GEODETICAL OPERATIONS* 
ie 1861 an Association was formed, under the auspices 
of Lieut.-General von Baeyer, having for its object 
the measurement of arcs of meridians, and parallels, in 
Europe. Most of the Continental nations joined this 
Association, and have carried out triangulations and spirit 
levellings of precision to further the objects in view. It 
is the intention of the Association to measure an arc 
extending from Palermo to Levanger in Norway, which 
will, however, probably be extended to the North Cape. 
The work before us is the report of the measurement of 
two base lines, ud of their connection with the Norwegian 
triangulation which is to form part of the measurement of 
the above-mentioned arc. It was thought in 1862 that 
the existing Norwegian triangulation, supplemented and 
verified by some new work, would meet the requirements 
of the Association; but it was found, on investigation, 
that such was not the case, and moreover that the 
verifications could not be carried out, because the old 
trigonometrical stations could not be refound with any 
certainty. It was therefore decided to commence a new 
triangulation extending in a chain from the Swedish 
frontier (south of Christiana), where the chain is con- 
nected with the Swedish triangulation, to Levanger, where 
again a connection is to be made with another portion of 
the Swedish triangulation. The two base lines already 
mentioned are situated at the extremities of this chain of 
triangles, one at Egeberg, near Christiana, and the other 
at Rindenleret, near Levanger; both were measured 
during the summer of 1864, and Part I. is the report of 
these measurements. 
The base measuring apparatus used is similar to that 
employed by Struve for the measurement of several base 
lines in Russia ; it belongs to the Swedish Government, 
and was used for the measurement of their base lines. 
The apparatus consists of four cast-iron tubes, each ap- 
proximately 2 toises* in length, One end of each tube is 
fitted with a small highly polished steel stud, and the 
other end with a “contact lever.” The short arm of the 
contact lever terminates in a steel stud, which is intended 
to press against the fixed stud of the adjoining tube ; the 
long arm moves ona scale. A measuring rod capable of 
varying its length to a slight extent is thus obtained, and 
this alteration in length can be measured with great deli- 
cacy, since the long arm of the lever greatly exaggerates 
it. This arrangement insures that the pressure between 
the rods is constant. Each tube is provided with two 
t Publications of the Norwegian Committee of the European Association 
for the Measurement of Degrees. Geodetical Operations. Published in 
Three Parts, (Christiania, 1880 and 1882.) 
? Atoise is 2'13151116 yards as determined by Col, A. R. Clarke, C.B., 
R.E., F.R.S., &c. 
| Fan, oe 1883 
