The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1921-10-28

tion as to the origin or extent OF the
supply Until the Hawaiian expert.
ment the remedy was regarded as a
palliative rather than a cure.
The names OF the places visited by
Prof. Rock in his search sound as II
they had been taken from the poems
of Kipling. He made his start at
Bangkok, the principal city of Siam,
and journeyed north about 800 miles
to the. town of Chieng Mai. A part
of the trip was made by railroad.
After camping in the mountain for
ests of Dol Sootep and Dol Choin
Chieng, northwest of Cieng Mai,
where he found three species of
chestnuts, he went by house boat on
the Meh Ping river to Roheng, and
thence across a range of hills lying
between that river and the Salwen
river to Moulmein, lower burma.
On this journey Prof. Rock discov-
cred many new trees but no 'tarakto-
genes kurzii." From Moulmein he
went to Rangoon by boat and the
made a difficult journey OF many
days to Mawlaik on the upper Chind-
win river. He had been told he would
find the looked-for tree there, but at
Mawlaik he was told that he would
have to go five or six days into the
country to Kyokta. AT this place
the trail became warm and he got
some definite information. He was
directed into the hill country back of
Kyokta, and there he found the OBJ
ject of his long, painful and hazar-
dous journey.
The tree is large one and grows
to be. very old. II flourishes in the
depths of the jungles. which are in
Tested by all kinds of wild animals,
and this is one of the reasons the ma
tives gather the seeds at such irregu-
lar intervals. The fruit is about the
size of an orange, with the seeds so
closely packed as to make them an
gular in appearance. The fruit rip
ems in July, and at that time the ma
tives will not go into the forests at
all on account of the bears, which in
fest the whole woods at that time.
The bears leave the seeds, and then
come the monkeys and porcupines
gathering them up eagerly. Some
of the seeds are washed into the
streams where the fish swallow them
with avidity. But this. food spoils
the fish for the natives. for they find
in them at that time the nauseOus
flavor of the oil which, they say,
makes them sick. Prof. Rock did not
see any of the ripe fruit for he got
there in January.
Later he sailed from Burma to Cal
cutta and penetrated the tiger coun-
try of Bengal, going to Assam. In
the forest reserves near Rangajora,
a jungle village on the Dibun river,
he found a few more scattered trees
but no ripe fruit. The traveller
brought back enough of the seeds to
establish a considerable plantation.
The Wawaiian government has set
aside 100 acres for the purpose, and
it is expected that the trees will be-
gin to bear in eight years. They will
also be grown in California.
While in Asia Prof. Rock discov-
cred in old Buddhist histories the le-
gend of Burmese king who went in
to voluntary exile on account of
leprosy about 1000 years ago-about
the time the disease began to infest |
all Europe-and cured himself with |
the oil. He also cured a beautiful |
young woman whom he afterwards |
founding a dynasty. The |
first efforts made by Europeans to
study and apply the remedy was in |
1856, but the English scientists who
undertook the experiment got hold |
Of the seeds of an entirely different |
rec, and it was not until 1899 that |
he mistake was discovered. Now it |
S hoped that this old remedy, newly |
will wipe out the blot |
IF leprosy from the human family.