THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Aug. 1, 1865. 
b TUE GENUS ARAUCARIA. 
very small part of them can be consumed. In former time a great 
quantity came to Concepcion and Valdivia by trading with the Indians, 
and thence they found their way to Valparaiso and Lima ; but now they 
are seldom seen anywhere near the coast, or they are too old to be 
palatable. The reason why all the seeds of Araucaria that hitherto 
were sent to Europe did not vegetate, is because the collectors did not 
procure them from the Indian country, but bought them in the market 
at Valparaiso, where they are offered for sale boiled and dried. My 
excursion to Quillay-Leuvu obtained for me fresh seeds of the Araucaria, 
which reached Germany in October, 1829, being seven months after 
they were ripe, and being sowed immediately, the period was just that 
of the Chilian spring. Of some hundreds, about thirty came up ; but 
ignorance of the true climate, which led to the error of placing the 
young plants in a hothouse, killed the greater part during the first year. 
To my great satisfaction, however, about six individual plants have 
been preserved in different places, and they are, to the best of my 
belief, the only ones in Europe. The wood of the Araucaria is red 
where it has been affected by the forest fires, but otherwise it is white, 
and towards the centre of the stem, bright yellow. It yields to none 
in hardness and solidity, and might prove valuable for many uses if 
the places of the growth of the tree were less inaccessible. For ship- 
building it would be useful, but is much too heavy for masts. If a 
branch be scratched, or the scales of an unripe fruit be broken, a thick, 
milky juice immediately exudes, that soon changes to a yellowish resin, 
of which the smell is agreeable, and which is considered by the Chilians 
as possessing such medicinal virtues that it cures most violent rheumatic 
headaches when applied to the spot where the pain is felt. 
" The Araucaria forests of Antuco is the most northerly that is 
known in Chili, so that the boundary of this king of all the extra- 
tropical American trees may be estimated at 36° south lat. The extreme 
southern limit is not so clearly ascertained, which is not surprising 
when we consider how little comparatively is known of Western Pata- 
gonia ; it seems probable, however, that it does not stretch far beyond 
lat. 46°. Between Antuco and Valdivia this tree only grows among 
the Andes, and, as the Indians assert, solely on their western de-. 
clivities, and nowhere lower than from 1,500 to 2,000 feet below the 
snow line, up to which they frequently reach. Further to the south the 
Araucaria appears at a lower elevation, and in the country of the Cuncos, 
and about Osorno, is said to occur on mountains of a very moderate 
altitude near the sea. The Corcovado, a mountain that rises opposite 
Chiloe, is said to be studded from its foot to the snow line with large 
groups of these beautiful trees. Of all other vegetation the Araucaria 
forests are as bare as the pine woods, offering but few plants which can 
interest the botanist. Steep, rocky ridges, where there is no water, are 
its favourite habitat." 
The Chilians eat the seeds either raw, roasted, or boiled, and con- 
