Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-01-15
THE TARTARlAN -AM5.
A Strange Plant That Close Resemble
4 = -. l. -.

A Strange Plant That Close Resembles
Little Lamb.
Among the strange stul les tn tt
found in the narratives al early
travellers fow are str"l-ev thar
that of the vegetable lumh # Tar
taIy. This story, H. believed hy I'll,
reading public and even by the M,
uralists of two centuries, ago, il .,
marvellous ana 81 obviously uL>Nrr
that we w,nlcr how the most T., ID.
ulous could have believed il to BIZ
true.
Tho story Is that, in ",l elevate.
and cultivated salt plain Of grea,
extent west of the river Nolgu.
there may bo found IL creature l!aIl
animal, half plant, to which the ~.
tivcs give the npma Of huIomptz,
meaning "iitllr lamb. To Obtain
it the WaltAla SOW in til ground i
seed like that of Il III, iun, l"On.
which, in due tiln", rises t.,,strdnG.
plant, having the figure 81 a lnllb,
with the feet, the hoOiS, the ears
and the whole head, except the
horns, Of that animal, distinctly
formed.
1t grows ON Il stalk about three feet
in height, being, according to one
version, rooted TO the SIuuad by its
four feet, while another arcuunt
raises the whole lamb, feet and all,
from the ground on IL single stem,
on which it is able to tU,n, and also
to bow itself downward 10 the herbs
as there is grass or heritage around
it, but when it has co: sumcd al
within its reach it dies and withcrs
away lis skin is covered with Il
very white down, as fine as silk,
and is greatly priced by tho Iartars,
who pull it Cn and wear it lis a
cover for the head
Inside it i, composed of flesh and
bones, and when wounded it gives
out Il liquid resembling blood
Wolves are said to be t.lc only ami
mails that will eat ii, and they are
very fond of It.
Specimens OF this remarkable pro
duction were looked upon us the
rarost treasures III the collections OF
the curious III days gone by. Two
different specimens have been de
scribed III the p philosophical Trans
actions and IL third has its portrait
given in an engraving iii Darwin $ |
Flower Carbon and its history
told in the tlorid verse of that work.
The "Mmb' is Il natural prOuuc
ton, greatly helped in the develop
ment of the particulars in which it
the ingenuity Of the natives. The
body is portion Of the creeping
stem of Il species of fern which gen
orally grows "a erect rs Il tree. This
stem is den"ely covered with beat
tiful, jointod, SILKY hair. Of II rioh
golden color
On the sinfuCo next to the ground |
few roots are given of, while tho
leaves frOnds, a.: they are called |
in ing from the upper sur /
face. The fronds reach Il height Of
IL or II feet, and have a long, bare
stalk before the leaf is spread ont.
The Tartar takes Il suitable part Ui
this creeping stem for II body, De.
p1ivei il Of the roots and of all The
leaf stalks except four, which are
intended to bo the legs, two short
ones for the ears ana Il stump for
the tail, ana then, turning ii upside
down, trims the stem, and SO pro
duces this marvel of the early cX-
plorerS. The fern, known 10 bOtu
nistS as the Cibotilm burOmetz, is il
native of eastern Asia. 1t has been
introduced into our cOnservatoriC.,
where it tourishos, producing, attic
few years growth, good speci-
mems OF the lamb. y
The silky hairs of this fern form
a favolite remedy among the Chi
nese fol checking tho flow of blood
by applying them to Il wound in
the same way AZ felt on cobweba ar
used by some people III this country,
The more !ihrOus and elastic hairs
of several species Of the same group,
natives of the Sandwich Islands, tie
largely exported from these islands
to California and Australia for stuff
ing cushions and for similar pur-