| Show THE RAIN TREE LE LEGEND GEND An tn n explanation of It Its It So Called Wonderful Wonderful Won Won- on Properties Propertied The loaves a ot of f th the L p Peruvian Peru rain tree are arc said ald ald i to have the of ot property condensing con con- densing densing- atmosphere moisture In large quantities s and precipitating It In the form of ruin rain According According- to one ODe writer the water rails fans from the leaves and oozes from the trunk and forms forma veritable rl rivers rivers' orS which can be led as Irrigating canals to an any point desired Malting Making liberal allowance for Cor evaporation and tra- tra tion a square mile grove grovo of ot the trees would supply for tor distribution about gallons of water ater dally On the strength of Cf similar stories one of ot the trees to which the name rain rl tree has been mo most t often applied viz 17 or Saman has lately been exploited and sold ex ex- ex ol In Australia The virtues claimed for It have pro proved ed It Is useful as a shade tree and Is widely planted for or this purpose in tropical semi-tropical and tropical countries The legend of the rain ln tree or rainIng rainIng raining rain- rain Ing tree dates back to the stories of or the Fortunato Isles where no rain foil fell from the skies and the soil was re refreshed refreshed re- re by the moisture shed by a treo tree of the sort described The early carly navigators navigators navi navi- gators g brought home stories of ot similar trees In the East Indies In Guinea Brazil etc The Peruvian rain tree appears to have been brought to tho notice of ot the world by tho the reports of a United States consul In Cn n Peru about 1877 These re reports reports re- re ports were widely quoted at the time and led the government of or India to seek seel Information on the subject from tho the authorities of Kew Gardens The investigations o of or W TV T T. Dyer brought to light a plausible explanation explanation explanation tion of ot at least lea a 0 part of ot the rain tree stories The Tho traveler Spruce reported his hi own experiences with the rain tree as fol fol- to IU Yo The Tamla Tamia c or rain tree of at the eastern Peruvian Andes Is III not a myth but a fact although not exactly In tho the way popular rumor has as lately presented present present- ed It lt I first witnessed the on tn In September 1856 1855 when residing at I had gone ono one morning at d daybreak with two Assistants Into the adjacent wooded hills to At little after atter 7 o'clock we came under undera a lowish spreading tree from which with a a. perfectly clear sky overhead a smart rain rf was falling A glance upward upward upward up up- ward showed a n. multitude of cicadas sucking the tho Juices of ot the tender young young branches and leaves loaves and squirting forth slender Blender streams of ot limpid fluid This Is not the only explanation That many plants spontaneously exude moisture moisture moisture mois mois- ture under suitable conditions tons Is la well known The phenomenon Is III called and has hM perhaps been most fully described by A. A Burgers n In n his work Die Dle Transpiration del dor Jena 1904 1900 The moisture drawn up from the tte roots of plants most frequently passes off Into the air all In to a gaseous form 1 i. e. e b by transpiration If It the tho air all Is saturated with moisture and If It the supply of or moisture to the roots is copious then liquid drops willbo willbe will willbo bo be exuded sometimes In large quan Quan- records a case In which a single l if f of or a species of Col Col- oca la gave off drops per minute gives a list of 1 plants Panta belon belonging to families in which h has s boon been observed The process goes on chiefly y at night and In cloudy and foggy weather 1 I. e. e ef when tho the relative humidity of the a ais all air allIs airis is Is highest It Is la altogether probable that in the moisture parts of or the tropIcs tropics tropics trop trop- ics there are trees which exhibit this phenomenon In such Ruch a degree that the name rain tree treo may be fittingly applied ap- ap plied to thorn It Is however or certain that no such process can oc occur ur In a 0 dry climate and that the thc proposal to plant the rain tree ns ss a 1 panacea n against drought Is en entirely entirely entirely en- en chimerical Scientific Scientific American i The Tho practice of tipping p Is prohibited at at the Royal ROJal CaZa CaA |
