The Washington times., 1920-09-26

~R KARL LECHE, the noted German
explorer and scientist, has brought
back from the wilds Of Madagascar
.one OF the most amazing stories that has
lever come from the African island. He has
..uescribed in the Carlsruhe Scientific Jour-
sss~nal a plant which seems to be an extraor-
.s-dinary development Of certain curious
ssl0rm OF vegetable life to- which the famous
Venus fytrap. or pitcher plant, and other
insect catching and eating vegetation be-
long This plant, or tree, which he calls
Crinoida Darjeena, attains, according to
Dr. Leclie, a size of ten feet, and is pow
erful enough to enmesh and destroy
human being The Mkodos, the tribe in
whose territory 1t is found, revere 1t as
fetch and sacrifice maidens Of their tribe
to it, says Leche.
quarter of century ago American
Consuls in Madagascar mentioned this tree
and sacrifices to it by natives in their
reports
Before discussing the plant from the
botanical standpoint, i quote almost IN full
his narrative as 1t appears In the Scientific
Journal, which is publication OF irre-
proachable conservatism and authority.
81 had gone" he writes, "to Madagascar,
the land OF the lemur, the lace plant, the
to visit Queen Ravalana H., and was per-
saadeI to visit the Mkodos by a native
who had heard that besides generous daily
pay was accustomed to reward literally
anyore who showed me something strange
or out'of the way.
- "In his company | journeyed to the
. southeastern part OF the island, inland
among the hills covered with thick virgin
forest, where there is district practically
IA ,i..A. ~
- numbered on the fingers Of one hand. This
is the region inhabited by the Mkodos.
~ was while among these natives that
was witness to what was probably the
most horrible sight | have ever seen
Their religion consists in the worship OF
thei" sacred tree, one Of the most wonder
full freaks OF nature. To this tree they
offer human sacrifice Once upon a time.
as each was consummated, 1t had been
their custom to burn each tree. This,
however, they had been forced to give up
on discovering that the trees we're getting
10 be very scarce When I arrived they
we're practically extinct, and It was with
difficulty that my guide, whose wild stories
had attracted me to the place, could find
one to show me.
"The sacred tree is most remarkable In
appearance It's trunk, which rarely rises
ton feet above the ground, is OF a strange,
Darrel-llke shape, covered Win Qualflt
moseic sort Of bark, looking like nothing
30 much as a gigantic pineapple. At the
top OF this trunk 1t Is between eight and
nine feet In circumference, and upon II is
. Fixed remarkable growth very much re-
ID. eembling a huge plate From the top OF
the trunk there hung eight leaves. They
were OF extraordinary size, ten to twelve
>, feet long, a foot wide where they were
hinged to the tree, widening to about two
feet and finally taperlng down to a point
as sharp as a nesdle. They were plenti.
fully strewn with huge venomous looking
thorns.
These leaves could not have been less
than fifteen inches thick in the centre and
II, hung down inertly along the trunk, their
point trailing In the earth. Above these
there stretched. rigidly and horizontally,
ga number OF branches several feet I'm
Length. Finally, from underneath the
70 platelike arrangement, there grew, point