i32 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
supposed to have stood in the centre of the world. The word 
Bo, or bodi as it is called by the Burmese, means wisdom, 
knowledge, and Bishop Bigaudet thinks ‘It may not be out of 
the limits of possibility to suppose that it is a remnant of the 
tradition of the tree of knowledge that occupied the centre 
of the Garden of Eden.’ Sit Emerson Tennent says, 
‘When the King of Magadha, in compliance with the 
request of the sovereign of Ceylon, was willing to 
send him a portion of that sanctified tree to be planted 
at Anuradhapura, he was deterred by the _ reflection 
that “it cannot be meet to lop it with any weapon ;” but, 
under the instruction of the high priest, using vermilion in a gold 
pencil, he made a streak on the branch, which, “severing itself, 
hovered over the mouth of a vase filled with scented oil,” into 
which it struck its roots and descended. Taking the legend as 
a sacred law, the Budhist priests to the present day religiously 
object to “lop it with any weapon,” and are contented to collect 
any leaves which, severing themselves, may chance to fall to the 
ground. These are regarded as treasures by the pilgrims, who 
carry them away to the remotest parts of the island.’ The other 
Bo trees which are found in the vicinity of every temple in 
Ceylon, are said to be all derived from the parent tree at Anu- 
radhapura ; but they have been propagated by seeds, the priests 
adhering in this respect to the precedent recorded in the Maha- 
wanso when Mihindso himself, ‘taking up a fruit as it fell, gave 
it to the king to plant.’ During a visit to the large temple of 
Killarni, near Colombo, Ceylon, I observed in the enclosure 
near the Dagoba a very magnificent Bo tree. It is said to bea 
scion from the very ancient tree at Anuradhapura, and is cal- 
culated to be 500 years old. It is held in high veneration, and 
the lower branches were covered with votive offerings of old rags, 
but in the space round the tree the offerings were of fresh and 
charming flowers. I was very desirous of procuring some of the 
leaves of this tree, but I saw an evident disinclination of the 
priests to gratify my wish, although they were very attentive, 
giving us the milk of the king cocoanut to drink, and would 
accept of no gratuity ; but, after some hesitation and delay, the — 
high priest gave me a few, but they were evidently fallen leaves, 
and I do not consider I should have obtained these had not an 
influential resident in Colombo been with me. I have often 
watched the tremulous motion of the leaves of the Bo tree when 
there was no wind stirring, as if some invisible agency was at 
work. It is similar to that of the aspen tree (Populus tremula), 
the trembling poplar. The Buddhists say that out of respect to 
their great Sage, the leaves of the Bo tree have always an apparent 
movement, whether there is any wind stirring or not; and the 
Syrians say that the Saviour’s cross was made of aspen, and the 
leaves have trembled ever since in commemoration of the event. 
But, unfortunately for this tradition, the aspen is a native 
of Britain, and there the wood is only used for making 
arrows. 
