[Latex2slides-users] but lost his life instead.--The

[Agliam O. <dec...@te...>]

Y become soft when exposed to heat and hardened when exposed to cold;
but it was discovered that the sulphur will keep them from being
affected by changes in temperature. When a large amount of sulphur is
used, the India-rubber, becomes as hard as horn or wood, and this is the
substance called vulcanite. Now the gum is imported in masses, to be
wrought over by our skillful mechanics." The children were very much
pleased to find that they had learned the nature of three important
articles--India-rubber, gutta-percha and vulcanite--and they thought it
would be quite easy to remember the differences between them. "And now,"
said Miss Harson, "the last of these useful trees--the cow tree, or milk
tree--is the most curious one of all. Like the caoutchouc, it is a
native of South America; but the sap is a rich fluid that answers for
food, like milk. It is a fine-looking tree with oblong, pointed leaves
about ten inches in length and a fleshy fruit containing one or two
nuts. The sap is the most valuable part; and when incisions are made in
the trunk of the tree, there is an abundant flow of thick milk-like sap,
which is described as having an agreeable and balmv smell. The German
traveler Humboldt drank it from the shell of a calabash, and the natives
dip their bread of maize or cassava in it. This milk is said to be very
fattening; and when exposed to the air, it thickens into a substance
which the people call cheese." "Milk and cheese from a tree!" exclaimed
Malcolm. "Do you think we'd like them as well as ours, Miss Harson?"
"No," was the reply, "I do not think we should; but if we had never
known any other kind, it would be quite a different matter, and the
traveler says that both smell and taste are agreeable. The sap, it
seems, is like curdled milk, and the natives say that they can tell,
from the thickness and color of the foliage, the trunks that yield the
most juice. This wonderful tree will be found growing on the side of a
barren rock, and its large, woody roots can scarcely penetrate into the
stone. For several months of the year not a single shower moistens its
foliage. Its branches then appear dead and dried; but when the trunk is
pierced, there flows from it a sweet and nourishing milk. It is at the
rising of the sun that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The
negroes and natives are then seen has