120 
DXIX.— SACRED TREE OF KUM-BUM. 
The f: ollowing communication from the Director was published in 
Nature for March 5, last 
e eighth number of the Bulletin du Muséum d' Histoire Natu- 
reminds me of a brief article which I contributed to Náture | in 1883 
(vol. xxvii. P 223, 224). 
. Blanc begins his account by the remark: * Je veux parler du 
fameux arbre qui croit dans un monastére Sd e nord du Thibet, 
et qui produit des lettres, des mots, des priéres et autres formules 
religieuses, le plus souvent tracées sur son écorce e sur ses feuilles." 
Of the actual fact he adds, “ des vo ageurs euro éens, M. Potanine et 
M. uera entre autres, ont apporté le ss es de leur observation 
direc 
bo is ‘evident, then, that the tree still exists a as Huc and Gabet 
described it. And M. Blane brought back with him to Europe a branch 
and a por tion. of the trunk. e says: *Le phénoméne est véritable: 
il existe réellement, et j'ai vu des caractères thibétains trés nettement 
tracés sur les branches de l’arbre en question. 
M. Blane discusses the cause. He dismisses the probability of pe 
being either natural’ markings or the work of insects ac tal 
resembling alphabetic characters. He has - doubt that they are 
produced artificially, probably with the aid " hea 
s E Mr. William Woodville Rockhill's boo ote ‘The Land of the 
, Lamas," appeared; in it (pp. 67, 68) he sus the following account a 
diet rib et 
* Although I did not see the convent treasure-house and the * white 
sandal-wood tree’ until later, I will describe them here. In a small 
yard enclosed within high walls stand three trees about twenty-five to 
thirty feet high, a low wall keeping the soil about their roots. ese 
are the famous trees of Kum-Bum, or rather tree, for to the central 
one only is great reverence shown, as on its leaves appear outline images 
of Tsong-k’apa. The trees are probably, as oie) by Kreitner,* 
lilacs (PAiladelphus coronarius) ; the present ones are a second growth, 
.the.old stumps being still visible. There were miS dia no leaves 
on the tree when I saw it; and on the bark, which in many places e 
‘curled up like birch or cherry bark, I could distinguish no impress of 
any sort, although Hue. says that images (of Tibetan letters, not images 
the god) were visible on it. The lamas sell the leaves, but those.I 
bought om so much broken that nothing could be seen on them. I 
have it, however, from Mohammedans that on the green leaf these out- 
line images are clearly discernible. It is noteworthy that whereas Huc 
found letters of the Tibetan alphabet on the leaves of this famous tree, 
- *:Kreitner;-* Im Fernen Osten," p. 708. I was told that in spring these 
»have large clusters of 'viólet flowers, but if they are lilacs I any astoü astonished that th the 
«Chinese do n is well k i -su and 
„throughout Northern China (see E noai, * Mongolia,” ii. 79). Tibetans call all 
ide TET tsandan (i.e. P wood). Sir ii 6 the Hooker (.Himalayan 
e ed sa "hat the "Lepelia s and "Bhoteás ea 
The Kum- tsandan : Meere d 
1 ty 
certainly ave ovr’ 
