Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 October 1895 — The Water Tree. [ARTICLE]

The Water Tree.

M. Ducharte recently made knowu to the French Academy of Sciences the reof the genus Musenga. Upon making incisions in the trunk of it and placing a pail at the foot of the tree, more than ten quarts of pure water collected in thirteen hours. The gorillas, it seems, are in the habit of slaking their thirst at these hidden fountains, and regulate the flow of liquid at will by pulling off different-sized branches. Many years ago Dr. Wallich found in the province of Martaban, Africa, a plant belonging to the same natural order, whose soft and porous wood discharged, when wounded, a very large quantity of a pure and tasteless fluid, which was quite wholesome, and was used as a beverage by the natives. This plant was named by Dr. Wallich the water vine, and has bqen placed in the genus Phytocrene, which signifies “plant fountain.” These plants form a remarkable exception to the usual character of the order, which embraces species that produce a milky juice—such, for example, as the celebrated cow tree, or Palo de Yaca, of South America, which yields a copious supply of a rich and wholesome milk, as good as that of the cow, and used for the sartie purpose.— rubllc Opinion. At the lowest depth from which specimens of the bottom have been brought up, 116 different species of Infusoria were found.