The labor world., 1902-08-16
From the Washington Post:

The palm derives it's name and its
scientific value from it's wonderful in
fiuence over all persons who come with.
in given radius of it,. This influence,
as powerful as the strongest magnet,
insinuating as perfume, and as subtle
as the very ether, exerted upon any and
all and finds expression in an irresis-
ible impulse to indulge in kissing, and
only by fleeing the presence Of the plant
can the influence be thrown off. Young
men and women, staid middle-aged
persons, prosaic married couples and
people while in the presence of the
palm, have found themselves enthusi-
astically, raptuously, ecstatically kiss
their companion Of the opposite sex,
and receiving in return lip imprints
none the less saccharinely blissful.
Many of the persons, entirely un-
aware Of the influence exerted upon
them have marveled greatly at their
unaccostumed actions when once away
from the plant, but in many cases has
the power Of the palm been such that
them have found themselves unconsci-
ously straying back to it's vicinity only
to find themselves enjoying the oscula-
tory delights with the same abandon as
before.
Some Kiss With Impartiality.
In number Of cases, where there
have been several in the party, man
or woman of especially ardent nature
has been known to not confine the lip
tribute to any one member of the
party, but to favor all of the op-
posite sex. One man, it is said was
so far carried away by the influence
as to kiss his mother-in-law, and she,
stranger still, returned the salute with
wild fervor,. that fairly took his
breath, This, however, is said to be a
most unusual case and the only one 80
far recorded locally, and it is only men
toned now to show the wonderful pow
er, of the Palmetto osculari''
Young couples who, because Of tim
idity Or diffidence, have found it i'm
possible to crafty their wish to break
away from thes formal Mr. and
Miss in their remarks addressed to
each other, have suddenly discovered
themselves saying George and "Jes.
sie' or Mary and John" quite natur-
ally, this during what little time and
what little breath they found them
selves possessed Of between salutes Of
an osculatory nature. Among those
who have been found returning to the
palm most frequently and whose visits
are longest are couples Of this class.
and it Is said that the reserve that
before stood as a barrier between them
and acted as a minimizing factor in
their joys never returns How many en-
gagements and marriages have resulted
because Of proximity to the plant will
never be known, but the number must
be goodly one.
Age No Bar to influences! n
Married people, who have come to
look at matters in a less sentimental
and more pratical light than in their
earlier years, have had recalled the
joys Of courtship and the, honeymoon,
and, through this reminder of that
happy period, with the love-hame alight
once again, have gone forth from the
warmth of the palm house into bright
sunshine of a better, happier material
existence. Those with hair whitened
by the frost Of many winters, who have
CHANGED near the plant, have found
its influence just as potent for them,
and at least one breach of promise suit
of May and December can be directly
traced to the occult. influence of the
/ kissing palm.'' Now that the facts
are known, it is quite possible that
Testimony as to the plant will be In
! troduced as evidence, and if such Is
done it will no doubt result in bring
ing out. much that will be of interest
and Of real scientific value, concerning
this remarkable and hitherto little
known botanical specimen.
| The extraordinary character of the
palm is only equaled by its scarcity.
It could almost be said to be extinct
were it not for the fact that at no time
in the worlds history has it been other
than very rare, and perhaps to-day the
number of kissing palms" in growth
is no smaller than for centuries. The
existence of the plant has long been a
matter Of dispute among botanists. No
less an authority than Humboldt de-
| clared it as his belief that the kissing
plant" was fabulous. Bonpland also
shared this belief, and INDUCED in a
bitter controversy with Baudiern, who
claimed to have seen a specimen of the
palm in the South Sea islands, and
! there to have come under it's influence
to the extent that he was unable to re-
frain from embracing and kissing two
| anything but attractive native women
standing near
| The writer, Giraldus Cambrensis.
| historian, antiquary, philosopher, the
ologian and poet, is said to have writ
ten a lengthy treatise on the plant, in
which he traced tbs. origin of kissing
to it. According to Cambrensis, the
custom prevailed originally only in a
small island in midocean due west
from the coast Of Ueru. Here, it is
| said, under the influence Of the palm,