Jan. i, 1895.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
455 
of applying it, though it strikes us that thatching 
the soil in the rains would be a good method. When 
partially decayed it might be forked in without diffi- 
culty. The objection to this lies in the fact that 
a great deal of its carbonic acid — the value of which 
is so clearly demonstrated in our article : •' The 
Great Need of Aeration" — would be lost. Were it how- 
ever applied in pits, it would not decay for a long 
time and if forked in green it would have to be first 
passed through a chaffcutter and even then might 
loosen the soil at first unduly. The most convenient 
way on the whole would by to stack it in long low 
heaps, mixing lime with it to hasten decay. This 
should be done in the rains, and it must be re- 
membered that for speedy and successful decay of 
vegetable matter, both air and moisture are requi- 
site besides of course a certain amount of warmth. 
When sufficiently rotted the mould can be applied 
as cattle manure, though preferably dug in broad- 
cast if the draining of the estate allow of this. 
As with the Australian yellow wattle experiments 
are urgently required, as if successful they would 
prove a boon vast indeed to the coffee and tea-planting 
world. It is at such times that we sigh for an ex- 
perimental garden, bitterly though, we trust, not 
in vain. — Nilqiri Ntios. 
"ROMANCE OF PLANT LIFE. " 
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS BY DR. D. MOR- 
RIS, c.m.g., AT THE RICHMOND ATHENiEUM. 
Dc Morris proceeded: — I have to thank yo -1 , my 
friends, as members of the Richmond Athenseum, lor 
the honour you ave done me in electing me your 
president for the current year. In acceplii g chis 
post, fo. lowing the examp e of my distinguished 
predecessors, I shall present au address, at.d in my 
case shall confine myself t > subjects of special in- 
terest that .have been more or less worked out at 
Kew or lately been illustrated by specimens con- 
tribute! to the storehouse of botanical inloinittion 
in the ruuguificent museums at Kew. In plant life, 
aa iu animal life, there are certain phenomena 
famiiar enough as the present day that at one 
time were utterly disbel eved in. Others, not so ex- 
traordinary, were looked upon with a certain amount 
of polite incredulity; whie not a few were simply 
ignored as not worthy of serious investigation. 
COCONUT PEARLS. 
The coconut palm is one of the most striking and 
clnv. acteristic trees of tropical shores. Its uses are 
too numerous to mention. Yoa are familiar with 
the lruit, a hard, browu nut, lined inside with white 
flesh, ans having a central hollow usually filled with 
mils. A coconut pearl is now in the museum at 
Kew. It is egg-suaped, perlGC.ly white, and com- 
posed almost entirely of carbonate of lime. It has, 
in fact, a somewhat timdar composition to the pearl 
of the oyster, and yet there is little doubt it is a 
puiely vegetable product. Dr. Riedel, of Utrecht, 
had fourteen coconut pearls in l is possession. One 
of these, he sayo, he found, himself, iu a coconut in 
1S66, a;- Hclootalo. Besides theso coconut p- arls, 
Rumph describ' s what he calls " melate " pearls, 
taken from the flowers of a jasmin ; and a '' tjampake " 
pearl taken from tLe flower of a Michelia. 
OPALS IN BAMBOOS. 
Bambo s arc thu giauts of the family of grasses, 
lheic majestic plumes are the glories of the tropics. 
The bamboo item is usually bellow, divided into 
numerous pockets by plates inserted at the joints. 
I his hollow is formed by the rending apart of ihe 
internal structure during the process of g rowth. 
iu the very young state the cavity is filled with a 
jell*. When this j 1 y dries up there is sometimes, 
but 1 ot often, a mineral deposit known to the 
nat'Ves of Iudia as " tabesbeer," This is oue of the 
most curious pioducts of the vegetable world ; it is, 
iu fact, au opal, loriued under somewhat remarkable 
and anomalous condition. Wheu heated it becomes 
phosphorescent. It holds as regards the power of 
lofraction an Intermediate plncu between water and 
gaseous bodies. Brewster Buunned up his investi- 
gation by saying that all varieties of tabesheer were 
in composition and pbysicul character, true opals. 
STONES IN TREES. 
Another remarkable occurrence is the deposit of 
miueral matter in the wood of trees. This is not 
accidi ntally included within the trees during the 
process of growth. It is a deposit from the sap 
of the plant, often occurring in some trees in large 
und appreciable quantities. The explanation is a? 
follow^ : — Lime is dissolved by rain water contain- 
ing carbonic acid gas. This is taken up by the 
planf, and afterwards wheu the gas parts company 
with the solution tLe lime is deposited in a 
fissure of the wood, as we find it in the iuside of a 
boiler or the tea kettle. We pass now from the 
class of mineral deposits in plant < to certaiu pro- 
perti- s possessed by pl-ints affecting the eense of 
taste, fcome such plants we may c ill. 
TASTE SPOILERS, 
for they produce a singular effect on the nerves of 
ta3te, completely paralysing them in regard to the 
appreciate n of certain mbstances. The most re- 
markable of these is a plant known in India as 
•Mera-Singi. This was brought into prominence 
some time ago by a distinguished vice-president of 
the Richmonl Athenaeum, Sir Mountstuarc Grant- 
Duff, 1 te Gov rnor of Madras, who first sent some 
of the leaves to Kew. The) plant is a stout, woody 
climber, and tie ro is have been long esteemed as 
one of the numerous remedies for snake bites. 
Edgeworth discovered th;>t chewing the leaf destroyed 
the power of U e tongue to appreciate ti e taste 
of sugar; powdered 6ugar taken immediately after, 
tasted like eo much i-and. The Mera-singi ha», 
therefore, been recognisid as a most inuesting 
plant. If sugar is taken in combination with other 
food, as for instance, in ginger-bread, the pungency 
of the ginger is alone detected, the rest is taste- 
less meal. In a sweet orange the taste of the 
sug-vr is so suppressed, and that of the citric acid 
so developed, that in eating it resembles a lime 
in sourness. Tbe influence of the leaves strangely 
enough does 1 ot affect s-iliue things nor astringents 
and acids. It does, however, affect bitter things, 
for quinine tastes like so much chclk. Such a 
plant might possibly te employed for masking the 
taste of nauseons medicines ; but we do not yet 
kuqw how far the Mera-singi may counteract ihe 
P'operties of the drug. At the opposite pole of the 
las e spoilers may be placed the 
TASTE IMPROVERS, 
plants that possess the power of rendering sour or 
acid subs!anoes perfectly sweet. Of these the 
" miraculous fruits " of West Africa are very strik- 
ing instances. Some are borne by a tree belonging 
to thu same family as the gutta-percba tree. It 
flowers in June or July ai d produces fruit about 
the size of small sloes, first green and afterwards 
dull red. They are covered with a roftish pulp that 
tastes at first slightly sweet only. The Strang b part 
is that this pulp, although slightly sweet in itself, 
possesses the power of imparting so extraordinary 
an impression to tbe palate that the most sour and 
acid substai ces become intensely tweet, so that citric 
or tartaric acid, lime juice, vinegar, and all immature 
fruit of a sourish character lose their unpleasant 
qualities and taste a3 if they had been solely com- 
posed of tbe sweetest sugar, 
COLOURING THE SKIN. 
Before leaving this class of plants I may mention 
that the pulp of a wina palm, in some parts of 
America, affects not the crgans of Wte but the 
colour of the skin of persons using it. A regular 
drink is au emulsion prtpered from the pulp flavoured 
with sugar. If used at all liberally the skins of 
tbe natives become deeply tinged with a beautiful 
yellow colour. During the season, when the fruits 
are plentiful, the natives acquire the yellow tinge 
almost as regularly as the birds their nuptial plumage. 
A sti 1 more pronounced effect is produced iu Jamaica 
on horses, by feeding on the leaves of the wild 
tamarind. They lose all the long hair in their manes 
and tails. The animals thus denuded look like 
scarecrows. The effect is singularly grotesque. 
