An Extraordinary Discovery.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 18 April 1890, Page 2

An Extraordinary Discovery.

» - . A METAL PLANT. Perhaps the most remarkable re • suit of the Stanley expedition has. as yet attained only a limited amount of publicity. *We (Christohurch Press) refer to the reported discovery by Professor Schelw sen, a Bavarian while travelling with the expedition of a very wonderful "Metal plant." One day whil« resting at a •mall village near the foot of Mount Milosii in the Um'opo region, Professor Schelwisch, it is 6tated v noticed a p ant with a peculiar steel coloured fo iige, and on examination it was fouueb that the shrub, although growing Ike oth<r plants from the , soil was praeticftlly composed of iron. The leaves though very thin were bent with great difficult^ and (he twigs and branches resißt«d

pressure nrkb a force about equal t the same amount of iron, and t secure a leaf it was found necessar to separate it from the bush with file. While he was digging abou the roots the natives came up in state of great excitement. Proiesso Schelwisch gave them a handful c copper coins, and the savage dropped them in a hole at the foo of the shrub. The Professor am his party left the plant soon § after wards for the night and revisited 1 the next morning. He was aston ished to find that it had ohangei colour completely. Indeed, such « marvellous metamorphosis had taker place that we had better describe 1 in the narrator's own words. H( ", Instead of being a heautiful steel colour the item, leaves, and whai was exposed of the roots presented the appearance of newly coined copper coins, and glittered in the morning Bunlight like poliihed gold. Upon examination it was ascertained that during the night the strange plant had absorbed nearly all the copper coins, with the mult of completely ohanging tor colour. What was left of the coins in the hole showed that they were more than half eaten away or absorbed by the roots of the metal plant* Not only was the colour changed 1 but the texture of the plant had undergone a similar transformation. It war found that the thin ivy shaped leaves were now easily bent around the fingers, would retain any sbape given them, and could be readily cut with an ordinary pair of scissors." It is a little unfortunate that ow ing to the menacing attitude of the natives, who declared that it was a fetish tree, and that to dig one up would bring ruin and desolation on the village, Professor bchelwisoh was unable to carry away this wonderful production with him. We are assured that he succeeded io surreptitiously securing several branches of the plant, and was also successful in obtaining a good photograph of it all of whreh he intends placing in in the British Museum. Further than this when the expedition reached theUniamen country at the base of the Nkomakosi mountains, •• a perfect forest " of this curious plant was found, and this being an uninhabited region no difficulty was encountered in securing specimens to take back to England. Some further wonderful discoveries were made as «o the properties of the plant. For instance we are told — "Being curious to know how fire would effect a growing plant of this species, preparations were made for the test. Large quantities of seasoned wood was procured and piled in a long row covering about 80 of, the metal plants and a fire kindled at the wiudward end. Stanley aud his entire party watched the experiment, and had the satisfaction of demonstrating that beyond the blackening of the foliage by smoke the intense heat to which the metal pUnl had be subjected had done no harm to the plant itself At the expiration of a week it was found that the rain had removed nearly all traces of the fire, and the plants were apparently as healthy as ever."