BULGARIAN BUG.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2382, 21 January 1922, Page 4

BULGARIAN BUG.

THE NEW PANACEA. A few years ago an Auckland medico brought to this country a little fungus plant to which were ascribed almost as many virtues as the philosophers’ stone. Its popular title, “The Bulgarian Bug,” may be misleading to the uninitiated, as the “bug” is of the vegetable order. If kept constantly in water or milk, the bug thrives exceedingly, and within the space of a few weeks grows to twice its original size. It is this f act which has enabled hundreds of people throughout the Dominion to become the possessors of a. piece of this wonderful plant, which has developed from the original consignment. A native of a small district in the Balkans, the bug is declared to have medicinal properties unequalled by any other herb, and it is said lo be equally efficacious in the cure of rheumatism, digestive or nervous complaints. The rare bug has its counterpart; in the common cauliflower, and is so mu’ch like it indeed that it would be difficult to distinguish one from the other. The flower has a short white stalk, and in this is bidden its curative potentialities. When placed in a glass of fresh milk, the essential qualities are extracted by the liquid, which is' strained next day and drunk. Some splendid cures for the ills mentioned are credited to the bug, which has come into the possession of several local people.