392 
ON THE USE OF MARGOSA LEAVES IN SMALLPOX. 
flourished for sixty centuries. And strange it is that with so long a period of life, it has 
been only generally known during the last century of its existence. It was first brought 
under general and scientific notice by Baron Humboldt some sixty years ago, and many 
of your readers will be acquainted with the description given by him, and with his 
mode of calculating the extraordinary age of this vegetable Colossus. It is true, how¬ 
ever, that before Humboldt it had been visited in 1795, by Sir George Staunton, a 
British traveller, and in 1771 by a Frenchman—T. Ch. Borda, who left also a drawing 
of the Dracaena that Humboldt published many years after. The storm of July 21, 
1819, deprived the tree of a part of its crown, but still it remained a striking object of 
wonder. A large and .good English engraving was published of it as it remained after 
the storm, I think from the original drawing of Webb, who again measured and de¬ 
scribed it in his splendid work on the ‘Natural History of the Canaries,’ edited con¬ 
jointly with Mr. Berthelot. The Dracaena was afterwards described by many authors, 
who have more or less copied the above-mentioned descriptions, and given, generally 
speaking, imaginary views of it; so you will allow me to add a few words upon the 
state it was in before this last catastrophe. When I visited it in February last it was still 
in excellent health, its immense crown covered with innumerable panicles of scarlet 
fruits, and the huge trunk, although completely decayed in the interior, sustained 
vigorously the spreading mass of fleshy branches and sword-like foliage. On the west 
side, where the ground was sloping, a solid wall had been built under about one-third of 
the trunk, while on the other side two or three half-rotten staves propped the more pro¬ 
jecting branches. All around the trunk a dense bush of climbers, and other plants, 
clothed its expanded base in a very picturesque confusion. I remember now some 
Bignonias, Jasmines, Heliotropes, Abutilons, etc., and also a flourishing Almond-tree, 
covered with blossoms, that had grown quite close to the trunk. Its circumference (as 
far as I was able to measure it, on account of the inequality of the ground) was not 
inferior to 26 metres (about 78 English feet), while the total height of the tree did not 
exceed 75 feet. And it was remarkable that through some crevices in the trunk a small 
Dracaena was to be seen, growing spontaneously in the decayed substance furnished by 
the parent tree. Now all has disappeared; and this is the more to be regretted as there 
is not a good photograph of it in its late state, on account of the narrowness of the 
enclosure and the interference of many other plants, preventing the taking it from a 
good point of view. Truly it is a pity that such a natural curiosity and historical monu¬ 
ment has been irreparably lost, simply by the omission of inexpensive precautions, as it 
is certain that the substitution of new and more numerous props would have preserved 
it from ruin! But at a little distance from the spot where the Dracaena lived, there is 
another proof of the general carelessness that Spanish people and the Spanish Govern¬ 
ment have for whatever concerns botany and natural beauties. The far-famed Garden 
of Orotava has been for many years left in a complete state of destitution, and the 
gardener, an intelligent and very active young German, has only of late induced the 
Spanish Government to resume the payment of the meagre annual stipend. All lovers 
of botany and horticulture will join, I think, in my fond hope that Mr. Hermann Wild- 
pret (the gardener to whom I have alluded), with the knowledge and activity for which 
he is remarkable, may succeed in his exertions to develope and increase this establish¬ 
ment, so remarkable on account of the condition of the climate, and which might offer 
such important services for the progress of science no less than of practical utility.— 
E. 0. Fenzi, in the Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette. 
ON THE USE OF MARGOSA LEAVES IN SMALLPOX. 
BY S. PULNEY ANDY, M.D., 
Of Her Majesty's Indian (Local) Medical Service; Superintendent of Vaccination , 
Travancore. 
Among the sacred plants of India the Margosa, or Neem ( Azadirachta indica, Nat. 
Ord. Meliacece), is held in veneration by the Hindus as being dedicated to the goddess 
Mariatha. This deity is considered by them to preside over all epidemics, or, in fact, 
