Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-08-18
Wonders Of Vegetation.

VIII perhaps pest appear by reference
to such as are less apparent. For it
would be impossible to enumerate a
1.-THE OF the properties, attributes. singu-
lar habits and influences of plants as
medicinal agents (not only various but
often OF an opposite %character) already
discovered. l will therefore refer to q
few only as an intimation of the bound
less field that opens before us in this di-
rection. As already indicated effects
slngularly diverse may be produced by
different plants. For instance, the poi
son nicotine is derived from the tobacco
plant; the celebrating caffeine and
theme are obtained from the coffee berry
and the tea plant. Thus it is possible
that some therapeutic agent may be de-
rived from every plant grown on the
surface of the earth. Herbs that stimu-
late certain organs of the human body
are declared by respectable authorities
to be %etficacious in the diseases of those
organs. Examples: Lungwort, sage,
and comfrey are goodfor pulmonary dis
eases. Liverwort, fumitory, etc., are
used in bilious affections.
Again, plants of certain characters
tics produce like results on the animal
economy. Oily vegetable products, as
the flbert, walnut, almond, ETC., tend
to the fairness of the body. Plants nat
urally lean, as sarsaparilla, emaciate
those who use hem. Fleshy plants, as
leeks, onions, cabbages, etc, make
flesh for the eaters. Some attributes of
plants resemble the susceptibilities of
animals. For instance, the vitality of
plants may be destroyed by mineral
poisons, as arsenic, etc., which act on
them nearly in the same way they do on
animals. Venus fly-trap possesses the
animal characteristic of irritability.
When an insect touches a certain point
Of the leaf it instantly collapses. The
insect is caught, and the leaf remains
closed till the body of the insect is con-
stunned, thus affording nourishment to
the plant.
The sleep of plants may be observed
by anyone interested, as many of them
in this condition are difficult to recog-
nize. The leaves are rolled up or be-
come reversed, as in the genus sida and
lupinus. The vetch and sweet pea dur
ing the night rest their leaves against
each other. Parental solicitude seems
to be displayed in the orach-root. The
leaves OF this plant fall back upon the
young shoots whenever the effects of
the atmosphere would injure them. This
is also seen in the chick-weed. The
compass-weed always points its leaves
toward the north star. Many plants
expand and close their corollas at a
certain hour each day, as indicated by
their names, morning glory, four o'clock
etc. The qualities Of beauty and utility
are not usually associated in the same
plant; for example, the most valuable
plants OF which we have any knowledge,
as the cereals and grasses furnishing the
most necessary food for men and ami
mails, are characterized by their hum
BILE, modest form and garb, with incon-
spicuous flowers.
notable exceptions. Among others are
the palms, a natural order Of plants not
excelled on the score of utility by any
order in the vegetable kingdom except
grasses. They are generally tall and
graceful trees, often of gigantic height
without a branch, and bearing at the
summit a magnificent and graceful crown
of very large leaves. No other plants
have leaves SO large as many of the
palms. Some of them have pinnate
leaves of extraordinary size, but undi-
vided ones are to be seen thirty feet
long by four feet broad. Humboldt
reckons the number of flowers on a
single palm as about 100000. The flow
ers are usually small, but are produced
in dense masses of very striking appear
ance. The flowers of some species emit
a very powerful odor which attracts
nlultitudes of insects. The uses of
palms are many and various; there is
almost no species which is not capable
of being applied to some use. The
Arabs, it is said, are acquainted with
$50 uses to which the several species of
palms and their productions may be
applied. Some tribes of a low
grade of civilization depend al
most entirely on the cocoanut palm
and the other species for the
supply of all their wants. Palms are
mostly natives of tropical countries,
being found almost everywhere in low
ATTITUDES. The hot parts of America
also abound in them, producing more
species than any other part Of the
world. The palms are so important,
useful and widely difused that, instead
of describing some six or eight plants
growing in this vicinity, as I intended at
the outset, about five hundred species
are known, but it is probable there are
others still undescribed. A German
named Martins has completed a mono
graph work in three large folio volumes,
on the subject of palms and their pro-
auctions, written in Latin, and others
are still engaged in this special duty.
The fruit Of many species of palms is
eaten; sometimes the t1eshy part and
sometimes the kernel of the nut. The
Importance of the date and cocoanut are
we'll known. A kind of beverage is
made from the sap of the palm tree, the
sap, which, after fermentation, is called
palm wine, from which also a kind of
spirits (arrack) is obtained by distilla-
ton. The fruit of some species yields
a useful oil. The soft and spongy CEN
ter of the stem affords sage. The ter
minal bud of some species is boiled as a
substitute for cabbage, which it resem-
bles in some respects. From the atsms
of some kinds of palms a substance like
booc,Uoy ;c obtained op1 uSaI for. Sim