Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1896-01-15
THE BURNING BUSH.
A MODERN SPECIMEN OF THE
"3IIRACLE" TREE.
Found in Africa-Its Trunk is In
eombustible and 1t Actually
Seems to Thrive on
Big Forest Fires.
X MOTHER historical miracle !"
scientific basis. The 'burn'


ing bush" of Moses, accepted
unfalteringly by Biblical students, OF
all the wonders related in tue Scrip
lures, has been considered as among
the most marvellous.
The Scriptural account Ito be found
in Exodue iii, 2-5) says: "And the
angel of the Lord appeared unto him
(Moses) in flame of fire, out of the
midst of bush; and he looked, and,
behold, the bush burned with fire, and
the bush was not consumed.
"And Moses said, [ will now turn
aside and see this great sight, why the
bush is not burned.
"And when the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called unto
him out of the midst of tho bush, and
said, Moses, Moses. And he said,
Here am I.
"And He said, Draw not nigh hitber ;
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for
the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground.
Ip recent English Foreign Office
report there is description of o lately
discovered stunted tree that goes by
the name of the chaparro. If this be
not the veritable burning bush" tnat
sburned with fire and was not con-
sumed" it is very close to it, for ex-
periments have revealed that it not
only resists fire for very long time,
but that its trunk is practically in
combustible. 1t seems actually to
thrive on great forest fires in which it
alone remains unconsumed, for if q
long period passes without conaagra.
tion the chaparro gradually decays and
dies.
In huge confagration this strange
tree seems to start into life, as an or
dinary plant does when it is wet with
rain after o long drought. Amid the
swirling reds and yellows of the flames
it takes on new life, and after the
fire has swept past it is seen with new
shoots of vivid green sprinsing out of
it. at such times the chaparros stand
alone, sturdy and strong, amid the
surrounding blackened trunks, the
only living things in land reduced to
sterility.
1t is not accurate to say that the en-
tire tree comes out of forest fire un-
scathed. While the body OF the tree
is incombustible, its smaller branches
and twigs burn. They burn very
slowly, while the rest of the woodland
is going up in smoke.
The London scientists who have
looked into the matter believe that
the trunk of the tree, and its branches
in smaller degree, exude under the
influence of great heat a moisture that
is sufficient, owing to its peculiar
chemical properties, to protect the
wood.
Commenting on the ohaparros, the
English Foreign Office report says:
'Tt is very remarkable that these fire.
begotten. plantations are nowhere
crowded to excess; on the contrary,
the trees are SO regularly placed that
their aspect vies with that of the most
carefully formed gardens.
While the word "tree" IS used in
the report the term "bush" would be
more accurate, for the chaparro is
little more than that. 1t seldom grows
to height of more than eight-f-et,
and in appearance it much more re-
sembles bush than even smallish
tree. 1t grows mainly in South Africa,
being most frequently met with in the
wild regions far to the west of the
Transvaal, in districts where few white
men have been. The natives look upon
it with superstitious awe, and imagine
that god dwells within it's trunk.
They avoid the groves of these trees
after nightfall. The wood is tough
and unyielding, and after fire will
dull the edge of the sharpest instru-
ment. A specimen OF chaparro bark
is on exhibition in the museum of the
Pharmaceutical Society, Bloomsbury
square, London.
A comparison of the description OF
this remarkable tree with that given
of the "hurning bush" shows that it
was probably the thorny acacia OF the
Arabian peninsula, the stunt OF Egypt,
and was akin to the shittc b tree end
SIENNA. Hence the mountal IL on which,
it grows derive their name. Sinai ; and
the tract is called the "Wilderness OF
Sin," or the "Sench." The wood OF
the shittah tree furnished the material
for the Ark of the Covenant and various
parts of the Tabernacle. 1t is hard,