THE chestnut-tree at Mt. Etna, is one hundred and ninety-six feet in circumference, and its branches are like trees. For ages have pilgrims delighted to linger in its shadows. There is also a great chestnut-tree at Tamworth, England, and when Stephen was king, in 1135, it formed a boundary, called the “Great Chestnut-Tree.” I have also heard of one called the “Manna Tree;” they grow in Italy and Sicily. The bark of it is cut in August, and the manna flows out like water. It was used for medicine. It is unlike the manna mentioned in the Bible, called “Bread of Heaven,” upon which the Children of Israel were fed. That was a small grain, and fell early in the morning. It was made into paste, and baked.

The Bamboo is used mostly in making houses, in Sumatra, and when the great and good Dr. Judson was a missionary, his lovely wife, Anne Hasseltine, made themselves a bamboo cottage.

The India Rubber tree is also very useful. It grows in South America and India. In Quito it is made into cloth.

The Cocoa-tree gives the poor Indians bread, water, milk, honey, oil, sugar, needles, clothes, thread, cups, baskets, cordage, nails, roofs, etc.

The Bread-Tree of the Pacific Islands yields fruit for eight months of the year. Two or three trees will supply one person with sufficient food. It is very nourishing.

The Jaca resembles this tree; it grows in Asia. The fruit often weighs thirty pounds. When the tree is young it grows upon the twigs, later, on the trunk, when old, upon the roots.

R.