94 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1889. 
HINDU ANTHROPOGONIC TREES. 
(From the Proceedings of the Agri-Horticultural 
Society of Madras.) 
Read extracts from a paper in the Journal of the 
Anthropological Society of Bombay, by Brigade-Surgeon 
W. Dymock, b. a., on the " Anthropogonic Trees of 
the Hindu Castes." During the marriage ceremonies 
of a Hindu, the branch of a tree is brought into 
the house, and placed in a sup>, or winnowing fan 
and this branch is the first object of worship. The 
tree used for this purpose varies in different castes. 
The Ficus glomerata, or Udumbara, is also called in 
Sanskrit Yajniya, or sacrificial Pavitraka, or purifier. 
The baton or staff of the warrior or king is, accord- 
ing to the Brahmanic faith, obtained from it ; it is 
a consmogonic and anthropogonic tree typical of the 
heavens and of the Supreme Intelligence, the true 
Bramavriksha, or tree of the Brahmin. The Ficus 
Bengalensis or Vata, is also a cosmogonic and an- 
thropogonic tree ; it is named Upasthapatra. This 
is the tree of the Roas, who consider themselves, 
rightly or wrongly to be of Kshatri origin. They 
pay great reverence to the tree, and will not eat 
from plates made of its leaves. The staff of the 
Brahmin is obtained from it. Thus the two highest 
castes of Hindus make use of fig trees as their 
anthropogonic trees, and in all Aryan countries the 
fig tree has, at all times, been considered as pre- 
eminently the cosmogonic and anthropogouic tree. 
It is only in countries where no species of fig is 
found that another tree has been orginally substituted 
for it. The reason of this appears to lie in the 
peculiar structure of the fructification of the genus, 
which was thought to produce a fruit without flowers. 
Possibly in Vedic times it was the only tree used at 
marriages to represent the phallus, Medha or Mekha 
also called the Wonshvridhi or Kulpalak, the pro- 
tector of the family, the principal object of worship 
during the marriage rites, the Pramantha or gener- 
ative power of nature, which in conjunction with the 
Shami or Agnigarbha (Prosopis spicigena), produces 
offspring or fire. 
The Vaishya caste use the Ashoka or Ashapala 
(Saracx indica) sacred to Vishnu, and worshipped on 
the Ashokashtami or 8th day of the light-fortnight 
of Chait (March-April), when it is in flower- Part 
of the ceremony on 1 that day consists in drinking 
water in which Ashoka buds have been placed. The 
Boi caste of Behar, and the Sonar caste use the 
Palasha (Butea frondosa) ; the first are devotees 
of Kali ; the wife of Shiva, also known as Parvati, 
Bhawaui, Durga or Devi. They offer a he-goat to 
the goddess along with the flowers of Palasha, the 
bunches of which are likened to the bloody hands of 
Kalis girdle. The goldsmiths are worshippers of Shiva 
and Parvati, and associate its bright -coloured flowers 
with red gold. Palasha is addressed as " glorious, " 
" treasurer of the gods and of sacrifice." 
The Powars, a tribe of Rajput origin, a fire born race, 
use the Kuadira [Acacia Catechu), a tree remark- 
able tor the hardness of its wood. Rigveda III, 35, 
Iiulra is told to obtain streugth by covering himself 
with Khadira wood. The tree is sacred to Bhavvani, 
the wife of Shiva. The Marathas (that is the caste 
of this name) use the Kadamba ( Anlhocephalus 
Oadamba), as a Medh. It is a Kuddhic an 1 cosmo- 
gonic tree especially sacred to the wife of Shiva ill 
her form of Durga and the leaves are offered to 
her at the Durga-puja or Dassera. It has orange 
colouru I flowers in, the shapo of a ball. The Arka 
( Oalotropis gigpntea) is the Medh of the VVaiwals 
and Bhandari-i, the first are gardeners, who water 
and tnke care of the palm plantations ; the second 
are those who extract the palm-juice. Ark;i or Arka- 
patra having leaves like lightning, i. c, cuneiform, 
is sacred to Indra, the Indian Jupiter, the god of 
winds and showers. He is described as strong and 
drunk with wine, and is attended by the Maruts or 
winds, who roar amongst I he forests, and drink in- 
toxicating drinks. The Wadwalls and Bhaudaris 
specially worship Marnti, as the well-being of 
t.ucir palm plantations depends to a great extent 
upon the absence of high winds, and the abun- 
dance of water. In the towns of late years many 
of the Hadwals have become educated, and have 
abandoned Maruti for the fashionable god Shiva ; they 
have consequently taken the mango for their Kulpalak, 
and follow the customs of the Pancbkalshas, Sutars 
of Bombay. 
To explain the reason for the use of different 
trees by all the numerous castes of India would fill 
a volume. To sum up it appears that in every 
Aryan country at least, owing to the analogy be- 
tween trees and men popular superstition supposes 
the first men to have sprung up from trees. Children 
are told in Europe that they were found in a garden, 
or under a goosberry bush ; in the Bundehesh the 
first man and woman are said to have sprung from 
a gooseberry bush. The tree Ashvattha (Ficus re- 
ligiosa) is the earthly emblem of the celestial tree, 
the heavens, or source of Universal Life, the real Bad- 
dhidruma. In India, the two higher castes have ad- 
hered to the genus Ficus as representing the generative 
powers of nature; other castes have selected different 
trees sacred to the particular Deva, or Devi worshipped 
by them. In Europe the Fig formerly, and the May 
and Myrtle now, are the favourite anthropogouic 
trees, and though not now worshipped they still re- 
tain a symbolic importance. Listly, we see that 
several aboriginal or Mongolian tribes make use of an 
animal or metallic phallus. 
ERYTHROXYLON OOOA. 
(From the Proceedings of the Agri-Horticultural Society 
of Madras.") 
Read a paper in the Kew Bulletin, of January on 
this plant, which yields the alkaloid that is so much 
valued as a local anaesthetic. It appears that the 
plant was first described by Nicholas Monardes in 
a book published at Seville io the year 1580, snortly 
after the author's death. He alluded to the allevia- 
tion of hunger and thurst by chewing the leaves. 
The stimulating iuflueuce of the plant on the nervous 
system was testified to subsequently by several travel- 
lers. The Ooca is largely cultivated in Bolivia, and 
yields in leaves about 40 millions of pounds weight 
of a value of two millions sterling per annum, almost 
the whole of which is consumed iu South America. 
The plant has been under cultivation at Kew for 
upwards of twenty years, and from Kew hundreds 
of plants have been distributed to correspondents 
in different parts of the world. The culture and 
preparation of the leaves are described at length in 
the Bulletin. In Peru, the largest and most matured 
leaves are sought, as they contain most of the alkaloids 
which render them marketable. They are dried in 
the sun, heaped up to undergo a slight amount of 
sweating, and are then ready for use. Chemical 
information beariug upon the cultivation of the plant in 
India and the Colonies has been contributed to the 
Bulletin, by Mr. A. G. Howard, grandson of the late 
Mr. J. E. Howard of cinchona celebrity; and other 
correspondents, including Dr, Trimen, r.E.s. of tne 
Botanical Gardens at Pera Jeneya, Ceylon. Analysis 
of the Ceylon leaves show exceptional richness in 
crystallizabie cocaine; they have no uncrystailizable 
cocaine, and the total yield is the highest, with two 
exceptions, of any recorded at Kew. Identical re- 
sults were obtained from leaves grow a ill Coylu i at 
1,500 feet, and 3,000 feet, respectively. Other species 
of Erythroxylon are noticed, including i,he E,'ylhroxylon 
Monogynum (or Sythia Indica) indigenous to India, 
knowu in Madras as the Godara, the leaves of which 
were used by the natives to mix with their food 
during the Bladras famine of 1877-78. Th s demand 
for Coca leaves in Europe, &c, has fallen off since 
it has become the practice in South Am-iiic i to ex- 
tract the alkaloids from the leaves at the place of 
growth, and to ship to the United Estates and Eu- 
rope a crude preparation, containing' about 70 per 
cent, of pure crystallizable cocaine worth about 15s. 
per ounce, which is largely purchased by manufact- 
urers of Cocaine The Bulletin believes that possibly 
iu India and Eastern countries generally it may still 
