1886.] '^ INaimsy Acanthosioyos Horrida Hook. 231 



It is wonderfully adapted to such an existence. All the kindred 

 plants are conspicuous by their largely developed leaves, but this 

 member of the family does not form any leaves at all, because it would 

 be impossible for the plant to supply the necessary quantity of water 

 for their maintenance and the leaves would be quickly scorched. The 

 evergreen shoots and twigs do the work of the leaves, the respiration^ 

 and assimilation. But even these require water for their life. The 

 plant must therefore possess a well-arranged system of water-pipes. 

 The piece of root, which you see here, is as light as cork, almost 

 spongy. The reason is, that it contains numerous and ample vessels, 

 visible to the naked eye. In this dry piece, these vessels are filled 

 with air, but in the living plant they contain water, which is carried 

 along them from the rootlets deep down below to the green parts of 

 the plant on the tops of the hill. 



There are also some excellent arrangements in the anatomical con- 

 struction of the younger parts, Avhereby the green tissue is protected 

 against the scorching effects of the heat, but it would lead us too far 

 to enter here into this question.* 



The flowering season begins with the summer, the first fruits 

 ripening about Christmas. As the plant is dioecious, not all the 

 bushes bear fruit, on the contrary, the female plants seemed to be in 

 minority. The fruit attains the size of a child's head ; it is green 

 even when ripe ; is armed with sharp knobs and becomes soft on 

 ripening. The natives use a bone-knife , made from the rib of an ox 

 for opening the fruit, because the juice of it would briug about an 

 inflammation of the fingers. Differing from other cncurbitaceous 

 fruits, its six parts are easily separable from each other like the 

 sections of an orange. The colour is that of a carrot, flavour and 

 taste something like spanspeck, but rather sharp. 



With the ripening of the Naras pleasure and joy enter the hearts of 

 the natives who live between the sand dunes. They are a tribe of 

 Hottentots called " Topnars." Their existence in such a desert may 

 appear to us a very wretched life, but to them it is then really a 

 paradise, for in the commencement of the Naras season they do 

 nothing but pluck the fruit, lie on the sand all the day long and 

 devour as much of the '' lekker kost " as their stomachs will hold. 

 Evening and night are spent in singing and dancing, and in the 

 morning begins again the hard work of the previous day. 



As the fruits become more numerous, those of the nation who are 



* See figures in above monograph. 



