346 MONKEY BREAD N17TS, Ofl FRUIT OF THE BAOBAB 



I gave to Professor Torrey, of New York, some of the leaves and root of 

 this remarkable plant for chemical analysis, and insert here the note in 

 which he communicates his opinion as to its properties and chemical 

 affinities : 



96 St Mark's Place, New York, Nov. 27, I860.- 



My dear Sir, — The leaf and root of the mboundou which you placed 

 ■in my hands for examination are insufficient materials for determining 

 with certainty the plant to which they belong. From the intensely poi- 

 sonous quality of the root, and the symptoms which result from its admi- 

 nistration, there can be little doubt that the active principle is a vegeto- 

 alkali belonging to the Strychnine group. Under a powerful glass I have 

 not been able to detect any crystalline salt in the bark. The taste of the 

 infusion is extremely bitter. The ligneous portion of the bark (?) is much 

 less active, is very hard, and from the numerous annual rings, it must be 

 of very slow growth. 



The mboundou certainly belongs to a natural order that contains many 

 venomous plants — viz., the Loganiaceoz ; and from the peculiar veining of 

 the leaves, it is probably a species of Strychnos, belonging to that section of 

 the genus which includes S. nux vomica. 



Yours truly, John Torrey. 



MONKEY BREAD NUTS, OR FRUIT OF THE BAOBAB. 



BY THOMAS D. ROCK. 



Those hardy and self-denying pioneers of African civilisation, who, by 



'their writings, have furnished us with such rich stores of information con- 



■ cerning the countries and customs of the Negro, have likewise enlarged our 



knowledge of many natural productions of great technological interest and 



importance. 



The Monkey Bread Nut ia not by any means a novelty amongst scientific 

 men ; but I apprehend that to the general public a particular account of 

 this fruit will prove both acceptable and useful, more especially as I am 

 induced to believe that, sooner or later, it will become a regular article of 

 British commerce. 



Drs Barth, Baikie, and Livingstone, of African notoriety, as well as Dr 

 Bennett in his Australian ' Gatherings,' have supplied me with such 

 copious details respecting this singular product of African and (as it 

 now appears) Australian vegetation, that my work is rather an affair of 

 compilation than composition ; although I hope to include some observa- 

 tions of my own, on nuts in my collection of natural products, which may 

 perhaps add to the completeness of this paper. 



