HEREDITARY DISEASE OF FICUS TSIELA. 77 



Poona, are smaller, generally 3-4 in. long. Those who have travelled 

 along that road or been in Poona must have noticed a curious phenom- 

 enon presented by the tree. From its branches may here and there 

 be seen hanging large green balls like Chinese lanterns. They are 

 oval or ovoid-oblong, varying in size from 2-3 feet or longer. These 

 are composed entirely of numerous small leaves (I have counted about 

 1,650 in one single ball) thickly congested on small branchlets, also 

 numerous and congested on larger branches. Seeing from a distance 

 one is apt to infer that the leaves have been brought together by the 

 viscid secretion of spiders or red ants ; but a glance at the specimen 

 on the table shows that they are free from one another and that the 

 appearance is due to the innumerable short branches shooting out in 

 close proximity to one another, and bearing small closely imbricated 

 leaves. To understand thoroughly the formation of these green balls, 

 let us examine the healthy branch and compare it with the abnormal 

 one. In the former we see that it, the parent branch, and its 

 secondary branches are long, smooth and alternate, arising at some 

 distance fi*om one another, being marked with an imperceptible line ; 

 the secondary branches arise rather irregularly, those of the same 

 side at a distance of 3-4 in. ; they never or very seldom give out 

 branches, nor are they swollen at their origin. The leaves are 

 large, long-petioled, and shoot out at a distance of 1-2 in. from one 

 another. 



In the abnormal branch this arrangement of secondary branches 

 and their leaves is altered. Being stimulated by some cause or other 

 the primary branch shoots out numerous short, thin or slender branches 

 thickly congested. These in their turn give out shorter and still 

 thinner branches, so closely approximated that the space between 

 he. internodes almost disappears. All the large branches and their 

 divisions are swollen and knotty, specially at their origin and on the 

 internodes. The swollen joints resemble small balls, size from a pea 

 to abettel-nut. The leaves are small, 1^ in. long, inserted on a more or 

 less long petiole, and, as you see, highly crowded on the branchlets. 

 These small dwarfish leaves are so numerous that, as I have pre- 

 viously stated, 1,650 leaves were counted in one single ball 3 ft. 

 long. 



At the commencement of this abnormal condition, or as I take it, 



