Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1884 — The Sandi, or Cow Tree. [ARTICLE]

The Sandi, or Cow Tree.

Coasting along the banks of the Ucayali the sight of a sandi tree inspired me with a sudden desire to tap its trunk and draw some of its curious sap. Taking a hatchet and goura in hand, I pushed the pirogue to the shore and struck for the stoutest of the milkbearers. I dealt a blow with all my strength; in a moment the milk appeared at the lips of the wound, and, after beginning to drop slowly, soon flowed in a snowy stream, contrasting as it fell with the velvety green of the moss and the reddish-brown of the soil. I admired the picture for a moment, then held my gourd to receive it, and as it filled, tasted the milky sap. This thick, wliite, and creamy milk, soon turns yellowish on exposure to the air, and hardens in a few hours. Although at first very sweet to the taste, it leaves in the mouth a bitter and disagreeable taste; but the intoxicating and narcotic effects ascribed to it exists only in theimagination of wonderlovers. We tried it several times simply to test its effects, but beyond its unpalatable after-taste, the bitterness of repentance after the allurement of sin, we perceived no inconvenience except that of a tendency to glue our mouth firmly, a tendency which induced us to rinse the mouth with water at once. As a milk for scolds, we could recommend it. It would insure silence and time for repentance. As to the nutritious qualities, I have my grave doubts; in the interior, at all events, I saw it applied to nouse except that of forming with lamp-black a kind of pitch for their canoes, although it is used successfully as an astringent in cases of dysentery. On the whole, however, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of Humboldt’s description. . Baron Humboldt gives the following description of this tree: “On the barren flank of a rock grows a tree with dry and leathery leaves; its large woody roots.can scarcely penetrate into the stony soil. For several months in the year, not a single shower moistens its foliage. Its branches appear dried and dead; yet, as soon as the trunk is pierced, there flows from it a sweet and nourishing milk. It is at sunrise that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The natives are then seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with large bowls to receive the milk, which grows yellow, and thickens at the surface. Some drain their bowls under the tree, while others carry home thd juice to their children and you might fancy, as the father returned home with the milk, you saw the family of a shepherd gathering around and receiving from him the production df his kine. The milk obtained by incision made in the trunk is tolerably thick, free from all acidity, of an agreeable and balmy smelL It was offered to us in the shell of a calabash , tree. We drank the milk in the evening before we went to bed, and early in the morning, without experiencing the slightest effect.” Mason & Hamlin commenced as melodeon makers in 1851. They soon Introduced the improved Instrument now known as the organ, or American organ, as It is termed in Europe. The new instrument proved so superior that it soon took the place of everything else in this country, being adopted and manufactured by all who had previously made melodeons, and many others were induced to commence the business by the rapidly growing demand. Now about 80,000 Americaniorgans are made and sold yearly. Those by the Mason & Hamlin Company have always stood at the head, being acknowledged the best. The same makers are now producing improved Upright Pianofortes, which, they believe, are destined to rank as high as their organs have done. —Boston Traveller.