Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 82, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 April 1915 — SPIRIT OF CHIEF IN ORCHID [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SPIRIT OF CHIEF IN ORCHID

One of the most interesting exhibits at the International Flower show at Grand Central Palace, New York, was a moth orchid growing in a human skull. A rather curious story accompanies the exhibit. The skull is that of an old tribal chief of the Philippine islands, who was murdered forty years ago by Guanu, a Suriago chief, for stealing one of the latter’s wives. Guanu kept the skull as a trophy until his death, when it was placed upon Guana’s grave as a tombstone. An orchid took root and as the flower bloomed it was sealously guarded by the natives who thought the orchid was the spirit of their chief. In the year 1902, a traveler passing through the village saw the freak and stole it from the natives and sent it to a florist of Rutherford. N.J. Note how the' expansion of the roots has caused the frontal bone to crack. The roots extend flown through the skull and can be seen through the nasal cavity and beneath the jaw. The flower has, bloomed regularly .since brought to this country. .