vegetable lamb. 
779 
about half a cart-load of fruit, under which is kept a clear wood 
fire. Our author, who saw the fruit in one of these kilns, was 
informed, that in three da^'s the fruit would be ready for pounding 
and boiling ; and that the butter thus manufactured is preferable to that 
which is prepared from fruit dried in the sun ; especially in the rainy 
season, when the process by insolation is always tedious, and often- 
times ineffectual. Might it not be worth while, if practicable, to cul- 
tivate shea trees in some of our West India islands ? 
The Vegetable Lamb. 
Whoever has perused the accounts of early travellers, must 
recollect the stories that have been copied into our Herbals, of Tar- 
tarian sheep growing upon stems in the earth, and thence devouring all 
the vegetables that come within their reach. A tale of this kind could 
not fail to attract the attention of the immortal fathers of modern 
botany, who took considerable pains to investigate it, and from hi* 
following particulars. 
In the eastern part of Chinese Tartary, there is a species of fern, 
called the Baronetz, or Tartarian Lamb. It is furnished with thick 
tubers, which being surrounded on all sides with yellow wool, and 
thin chaffy scales, are often raised so high above the ground, that 
the roots beneath bear some resemblance to legs fixed in the soil. 
The genus of this fern has not yet been ascertained, but it is known 
that the roots spread round to a considerable extent; and perhaps 
(his circumstance prevents all other plants from growing near it. 
This fact, connected with the figure which is prefixed, has induced 
the ignorant and superstitious to transform this curious vegetable into 
a voracious sheep, which Dr. Darwin has celebrated in some appro- 
priate and characteristic lines. 
WONDERFOL PlaNT OF SoMBRERO. 
This is a strange kind of sensitive plant, growing in the East Indies, 
in sandy bays, and in shallow water. It appears like a slender straight 
stick ; but w hen you attempt to touch it, it immediately withdraw* 
itself into the sand. Mr. Miller gives an account of it in his descrip- 
tion of Sumatra. He says, the Malays call it lalaa-lout, that is, 
seer grass. He never could observe any tentacula ; but, after many 
