The New Orleans Democrat., 1876-07-16

would II be to lie back and let the juict
Of this plant trickle slowly, gently
down your back until II converted yor
into u pleasant ice-bcrg2 Oh, for the
ssemper yiTrens savoyanne OF Louisiana
How mild, how frigid, did it flourish
here now, would be our fierce, political
wars How cool and moderate our de-
nunciations How placid our tempers =?
But greatest OF all in the vegetable
kingdom-as man is greatest In the
world-was the man-plant Itomme-
! pl0ntel. This plant was only once seen
! in Louisiana, or, for that matter, only
once seen in tho world M. y. des
| I1ozieres, who gives the only account
extent Of it, did not see it himself but
got the story direct from Don Martin
Novarra, carpet-bagger from SPAIN
ut that time, by virtue Of sundry
Spanish bayonets TO back him, acting
as Governor Of Louisiana-and who can
doubt the word Of q carpet-bag Cover
nor?
Some Galician laborers were digging
ditch near the river, when suddenly
one Of them turned up with his spade
something white. A closer glance at it
showed him and his comrades that it
was corpse, the body of one who had
evidently once been a beautiful girl.
The laborers were quite Mortified when
and children were unearthed, all in
perfect state OF preservation. Alarmed
at this discovery Of what they supposed
the victims of Indian barbarity, the
laborers ran off for help What was
their surprise when they returned to
find visible and unmistakable signs Of
life in the bodies. They had been
buried alive
Restoratiyes were about being applied
when one Of the men, who had been
more inquisitiye than the others, an
nounced that they were not bodies after
all but simply plants, and 50 il proved
and the Spaniards enthusiastically de-
voured these roots with the exception
OF few sent to New Orleans as curiosi-
ties, and declared them excellent.
These strange plants" writes M.
Baudry des Lozieres Second voyage to
Louisiana, vol 2, pages 304 seq. J. "bore
some resemblance to an Irish potato or
white truffle, but were much larger than !
the largest yam. They had the perfect
shape and face Of human being, with |
the features Of the face clearly marked, |
q neck, shoulders and we'll defined body |
Some OF the plants were small, others |
large some had male, others female |
features. They seemed to form regu-
lar colony or settlement and quivered |
when touched, and even seemed to
move away, as IL they intended to de-
fend themselves. They received at
once the name Of man plant (homme-
plante)."
Never since has the man-plant been
seen it Is a mystery that will probably
never be solved Whether, after all
these so-called roots were really roots
or some distant relatives Of the far
famed Dryades Of Dodona, nymphs that
dwelt within the trees, who had sought
refuge in the new world from the in
Of the old.
There are q hundred other plants of
old Louisiana we might mention,
equally wonderful in their history and
cures as these. With the hair plant, the
oil tree, the button tree, the wax tree,
The fever bush, the absynthe, the water
tree and thousand around him, it
would seem as il a Louisianian might
seat himself in the very midst Of the pro-
foundest forest, and there find every
thing he needed near at hand, dress
provided, splendid repast ready and
medicine in case it made him ill,
Where are all these wonders now?
Where is the rattle-snake and frog DO
.atoes, the angels balm, the bite Of the
ievll, the get-up-early- -in-the- morning
plant, the mOuse's eye, the dogs tooth,
,he boiling root, and hundred others
nat 1ourlshed here once? All lost now,
gone like the ten tribes of Israel.
ls 1T any wonder that some OF the old |
'atners, when they saw these miracles,
grew dIsgu5ted and cursed this as the /
lewis quarter OF the globe.
A~>
nj. L. Byrne & Co.. l63 Canal street. beg 10 an
aounce tnat they have marked down all sum