72 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 
ing employed by native herbalists as an antidote to snake poison. 
In connection with the sacred peepul, (Ficus rcligiosa) which 
by the way, bears such a close resemblance to our English poplar, 
there is a belief that the god Badavaugny, in the form of a mare, 
resides in its branches. A^ishnu is said to have been born among 
them and Siddhartan became Buddha while seated under a peepui 
in a Behar village. This identical tree is still piously believed 
to be in existence, and a tree growing at Anuradhapura in the 
Spicy Isle is said to be a branch of that in the Behar village. \Mien 
the peepul leaves quiver, like those of our own aspen, the trembl- 
ing is attributed to spirits agitating each leaf. Then there is the 
neem tree, (Melia indica) around which, owing no doubt to its 
several valuable medicinal uses, a halo of pretty superstitions has 
clustered. The natives say that longevity is to be obtained by 
sleeping under the shade of the tree and that the smallpox god- 
dess will go past, without entering, the house from the door of 
which a bunch of neem leaves is \\\mg.— Indian Gardening. 
TEA AXD COFFEE AS MEDICINE. 
The Globe, quoting Sidney Smith's remark that "he was glad 
he was not born before tea," reminds us that there is something 
of a chock in reflection that the much beloved tea was primar- 
ily looked upon as a medicine. Fancy our descendants of a thou- 
sand years hence boasting of being ''great castor-oil drinkers'' or 
priding themselves on their own particular blend of ''rich sirupy 
rhubarb magnesia!'' But despite its extravagant price—sixty 
shillings a pound it is said to have been given—and the fact that it 
was considered the sort of thing most appropriately sold by to- 
bacconists, tea made its way, and we find Pope and Young and 
Cowper and a score of others making their female characters 
drink "bohea" and eulogizing or satirizing them according to 
their personal views. Coffee would seem to have had a somewhat 
similar origin of discovery to that traditionally related about the 
Bath waters. Of the latter it is told that King Bladud discovered 
that his ailing swine were cured by bathing in and drinking the 
waters of a certain spring. What was good for pigs must His 
^Majesty thought be good for men— and the Bath waters retain 
