XX 
THORNS 
255 
until they axe four or six inches long, then fall to the 
ground, take root, and produce a new plant. Bulbils are 
often present on sisal plants in great numbers. 
Men universally curse thorns, and it is useful to 
remember that the ]3roduction of thorns is one of the 
consequences of Adam’s unfortunate error in eating 
Eve’s apple (Gen. iii. 18). Animals have just as 
much reason to dislike thorns. On many African trees 
and bushes thorns are not only sharp and long, but 
brittle, and break off when they penetrate the flesh. 
Roosevelt, describing his hunting experiences along 
the Guaso Nyero, refers to mimosas with long straight 
thorns which are so plentiful “that almost all the lions 
have festering sores in their paws because of the spines 
which have broken off in them.” Reference has 
already been made to the frequent suffering and pain 
thorns cause the natives and porters who traverse the 
Nyika and forests (p. 168). Some are so sharp and 
long that the nathms use them as “ kds-lip pins” for 
bringing the edges of flesh wounds together (p. 114). 
Around Nairobi, and especially in the gardens of 
Entebbe, a handsome solanum tree flourishes and bears 
flowers like those of the potato. It has large green 
laurel-like leaves, and on the stalk of each leaf there is 
a formidable curved thorn an inch long. 
A curious tree, termed Acacia fistidosa by Schwein- 
furth, has an Arabian name, “ soffar,” which signifies a 
flute or pipe. It appears that the larvse of insects work 
their way into the bases of the young thorns, which 
then swell into globular bladders an inch in diameter. 
The mature insect escapes from this chamber by a 
circular opening. This hole in the hollow bulb at the 
base of the thorn causes it to emit a flute-like sounrl 
when the wind plays upon it. 
Schillings, in describing the “ Lonely wonder-world 
of the Nyika,” refers to the strange melody produced by 
the wind playing through a grove of acacias beset with 
these curious Miolian harps. He also mentions that 
