The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-08-04
CHINESE BUGS ON PLANT ARE
SOLD FOR MEDICINE
1t Is Fungus Which Grows in Top of
Worms Head and Kills It.

"A few years ago a queer worm was
discovered in South America that ap-
parently buried itself and became a
plant, stalk springing out of it's head
While the body formed the root The
story seemed to rank with the Won
derful tales of the fifteenth century
in which travellers assured their credu-
lous listeners of a plant in central
ASh1a-Thibet, to be eXact-Which
produced small lambs, which calmly
proceeded to Craze when they fell to
the earth from the branches. The
fifteenth century writer's did not tell
us whether these lambs grew on pea
vines or on mint stalks, but, then,
medieval science is more exacting,
story which is little difficult to be-
lieve he is required to produce evil
dence. Over at the National Museum
the inquirer may be SHOWN plenty of
evidence in the shape of a box full OF
queer dried roots, with long stems, and
these roots are in the form of worms
locusts and other small creatures.
Modern science goes further, how
ever, and refuses to believe even what
it sees. So when this apparently in
disputable evidence of animal life turn
ed to vegetable was placed before it
science, still skeptical, got out her
microscope and discovered that the
plant that so mysteriously sprang from
the head of the poor insect was moth
ing of natural growth from the creature
itself, but fungus that Slapped the
life of it's victim as it fourished it's
branches of false pretense in the air.
The seed of the fungus, which is
found the world over, sometimes finds
successful Judgment in or about the
head of some worm. 1t does not kill
at once, but takes root ana sprouts in
shape not unlike a horn, to the great
inconvenience of the caterpillar. The
horn continues to grow and the unhap-
py insect finds itself less able to eat
1t buries itself-in despair, perhaps
and the root, a vertable Jack the Giant
Killer, waves triumphant over his vic
tim.
The horn grows to the surface and
forms a Dubious seed-pod, which
bursts to scatter further dread and
mischief among insect tribes. The
root of the fungus, secure in the body
of it's victim, fills all the body, pre-
serving the outlines while absorbing
the poor caterpillar completely. The
transformed worm is now hard and dry,
like a root, and is a genuine curiosity
to look at. Nor are larvae the only
forms this fungus attacks. The mu-
scum shows a common black wasp mud
dauber-Which has the fatal stems
year locust is also among the contents
of this box Of insect tragedies.
CordycepS, or tOrrubia, to give this
pirate his scientific name, Is found in
his largest size in New Zealand and
China, besides South America, although
he is known in all countries and has
relatives in the United States. The
agricultural department some years
ago tried to make him ana his extern
sive family Of cousin-rung1, large and
small, useful by setting them to de-
Stroying insects injurious to crops, but
the attempt failed. COrdyceps refuses
to be of service to society; he is a free
booter and goes only where he will.
In China cordyceps chinensis is dug
up body, branches and all, tied in
punches with red thread and sold as
cure for throat diseases. But the Chin
csc will use anything on earth as medi-
cine, insects especially, and to them
every man who searches for entomolo-
gical specimens is a medicine man."
The first record made of this freak in
any scientific work is In a letter of DIR.
William Watson, F. r. S., in the "Phil-
osophical Transactions" London, 1853,
where he writes thus to the Royal So
ciety concerning "The Vegetable Fly"
"The vegetable fly is found in the
Island of Dominica and excepting that
it has no wings) resembles the drone
both in size and color more than any
other English insect. In the month of
May it buries itself in the earth and
begins to vegetate. By the latter end
of July the tree is arrived at it's full
growth and resembles a coral branch,
and is about three inches high, and
bears several little pods, which, drop
ping off, become worms, and from
thence flies like the English caterpil-
lar"
DR.. Watson, like a true scientist,
was skeptica1 about the accuracy Of
these observations, although it is
doubtful if he ever learned the exact
nature of this remarkable Ely" 1t was
left for nineteenth century scientists
to classify and label cordyceps and his
large and interesting family, and so de-
stroy another travellers tale.-The
Evening Star.