The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1890-05-31

naturalist OF this city. says New Or
leans letter In the Philadelphia Tines
who has recently returned from Gem
trail America. where he has spent near
ly two years in the study Of the flora
and fauna Of the country. relates the
finding OF singular growth In one OF
the swamps which surround the great
lake OF Nicaragua He was engaged
I'm hunting for botanical and entomolo-
gicll specimens in this swamp, which
Is known as San Scbastian's. when he
heard his dog cry out as II in agony
from distance. Running to the spot
from which the animals cries came,
Mr.. Dunstan found him enveloped In
perfect network OF what seemed 10 be
line, ropc-likc tissue Of roots or fibres.
the nature OF which was unknown TO
him.
The plant or vine seemed composed
entirely OF bare. interlaeing stems, re-
sembling more than anything else the
branches of the weeping willow denud-
ed Of all foliage. but OF dark. nearly
black hue and covered with n thick.
viscid gum that exuded from the pores.
Drawing his knife Mr.. Dunstan en-
deavored TO cut the animal free. but IL
was only with the greatest difficulty
that he succeeded in seyering the ileshy.
muscular fibre. To his horror and
amazement the naturalist then saw
that the dogs body was covered with
blood, while his hairless skin appeared
10 have been actually sucked or puck
cred i'm spots, and the animal stag
gered as If from weakness and exhaus-
ton.
In cutting the vine the twigs curled
like living. sinuous fingers about MIR.
Dunstan's hand. and IL required no
slight force to free the member from its
clinging clasp, which left the flesh red
and blistercd. The gum exuding from
the vine was of grayish-dark tinge.
remarkably adhesive and OF disagree
able animal odor. every powerful and
nauseating TO inhale.
The native servant who accompanied
Mr.. Dunstan manifested the greatest
horror of the vine. which they call In
sagedas dc diablc, the devils scene or
snare, and We're full OF stories of it's
deatll-dealing powers. One Of these
stories was of an Englishman residing
in Managua who, while hunting in
the swamp few years before. lay
down beneath a tree where large and
powerful specimen OF this singular
plant was growing, and. inadvertently
falling asleep, awoke 60 find himself
enveloped in its web, and, in spite of
every effort made to extricato him. per-
ishcd in its deadly embrace.
Another story was OF an escaped con-
Wet who had hidden in the swamp and
whose bones had been found in the
folds of the sagenas only short time
before Mr.. Dunstan's visit. These
stories. remarkable rs they may seem.
are fairly believed in by the people.
but the only three specimens which
Mr.. Dunstan was able 10 find were all
small ones. though the meshes of the
largest would probably, If extended in
"A straight line, measure nearly IL not
quite 100 feet. He was able 20 discover
very little about the nature OF the
plant. owing 10 the difficulty of hand
ling IT, for It's grasp can only be torn
away with the loss OF skin and even OF
flesh, but as near as Mr.. DunStan
could ascertain. its power Of suction
is contained in number of infinitesi-
NAL mouths or little suckers, which.
ordinarily closed. open for the recep-
ton of food.
The gum cxudcd seems 10 serve the
two-fold purpose Of increasing It's ten
acity and of overcoming a victim by its
sickening odor. The plant is found
only in low. wet places, and usually
beneath large tree, and while DOR
mant seems only network OF dry
dead vines covering the black earth for
s@teral feet, but coming into contact
with anything will instantly begi- TO
twist aud twinc upward in Il horri De,
lifc-like manner, breaking out with tie
gum-like substance spoken of before.
and euwrap the object with cclerty
that is almost Incredible.
Ii the substance is animal the blood
Is drawn of and the carcass or refuse
then dropped. A lump of raw meat
being thrown IL In the short time OF
five minutes the blood will be thor
oughly drunk of and the mass thrown
aside. It's voracity is almost beyond
belief il dcvouring ut one time over
ten pounds of meat. though IL may be
deprived of all food for weeks without
any apparent loss of vitality. Mr.. Dun
stau attempted to bring away root
OF the sagcnas, but IL died during his
return voyage. growing 80 foul with n
Mrong odor of real animal corruption
that he was obliged 20 get rid of IL.