Morning journal and courier., 1890-03-10
A STRANGE PLANT.

Discovered by a Member of the Stan.
 ley Expedition-It Eats Metal and
 Fire Will Not Consume 1t.
 From the Philadelphia Times.l
 Professor Schelwisch, the we'll known nat- uralist of Bavaria, while travelling with the Stanley expedition in the heart of Africa for the purpose of studying the fora and fauna of the dark continent, was the first white man to discover the strange plant.
 One day while resting at small village near the foot of Mount Milosis, in the Umbo- DO region, Professor Sche1wisch noticed 8 plant with a peculiar steel colored foliage, and on examination it was found that the shrub, although growing like other plants from the soil, was practically composed of iron. The leaves, though very thin, were bent with great difficulty, and the twigs and
 branches resisted pressure with force about equal to the same amount of iron, and to secure leaf it was found to be necessary to separate it from the bush with file. While Professor Schelwisch was digging
 at the base of this plant for the purpose of making an examination of it's roots, the na- tives crowded around him in great numbers, gesticulating in a menacing manner. The professor desieted from his work and the interpreter was sent for. He explained that this was holy tree and worshiped by the natives in their fetich religion as God plant, and that to digone up would bring ruin and desolation upon the whole village and surrounding country.
 Professor Schelwisch offered to buy the plant, and, taking out a handful of copper coins, gave them to the ssyages, who gladly accepted the money and distributed it among themselves The professor then returned to the work of digging up the unique plant, but had not nude any great progress when the natives again Set upon him. Through the interpreter the professor informed them
 that he had legally bought the plant and in- tended to remove it. As soon as this mes- Sage WAS made known to the savages every one who had received coin came and
 dropped it in the hole at the base of the shrub. Professor Schelwisch allowed the coine to remain in the hole and walked away toward the mountain to hunt another specimen.
 ITS STRANGE PROPERTIES DISCOVERED.
 Next day, as the party were preparing to continue the march, the professor was curi- ous to know if the coins had remained un- disturbed during the night by the supersti- tious natives, and on approaching the metal plant was astonished to find it had changed it's color completely. Instead of being 3 beautiful steel color, the stem, leaves and what was exposed of the roots presented the appearance of newly coined copper coins and giittered in the morning sunlight like pol
 ished gold. Upon examination it was ascer- | tained that during the night the strange plant had absorbed nearly all the copper coins, with the result of completely chang ing it's color. What was left of the coins in the hole showed that they were more than half eaten away or absorbed by the roots of the metal plant. Not only was the color changed, but the texture of the plant had | undergone a similar transformation. It was found that the thin ivy shaped leaves were | now easily bent around the fingers, would retain any shape given them and could be
 readily cut with an ordinary pair of scissors. Professor Schelwisch succeeded in surrep-
 titiously securing several branches of this
 wonderful metal eating plant, aud was also
 successful in obtaining good photograph of It. No further trace of the existence of the l metal plant was found until the expedition
 reached the Uniamesi country, when at the base of the Nkomabakosi mountains a per feet forest of this curious plant was found. This being an uninhabited region no difi-
 culty was encountered in securing specimens
 to take back to England.