MOSES' BURNING BUSH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7923, 30 January 1904, Page 1

MOSES' BURNING BUSH.

A iematkaWe plant is now at Kew Gardens, London's celebrated horticultural grounds oh the Thames, and which is of uncommon interest because of the lieht which it seems to throw on one of the most famous of the Old Testament miracles. This plant has just been brought from the Arabian desert, and numerous scientists de-clar_.-it.t(>*be identical' with the "burning bush" which Moses saw burst into flame at his approach and blaze for some time without being consumed. Extraordinary to state, the plant at Kew, which grows to the height of; five or six feet., possesses the remarkable property of exhaling an inflammable gas'from its flowers, which, on being approached by a light, takes fire and burns brightly for a few moments; the plant in the meanwhile remains uninjured owing to its sap. .In the hot deserts of Arabia, where the plant naturally grows more vigorously than at Kew, a larger quantity of this gar is exhaled, and it is probable that the fierce rays of the sun frequently cause it to take fire. It cannot be said that the discovery of this plfljht and its strange characteristics' add greatly to the impress iveness of the Bible story— but there it is to be regarded as you please. In appearance the "burning bush" plan, suggests an arid, sterile habitat. Its leaves are of a d*pU sage green colour, and the gasexhaling blossoms are pale pink. ' „ ■ '■..' It is not generally known that numerous flowers /give forth gases in a small degree* itotablyVthe lily of the valley and the meadow sweet, which grow so. profusely in Engiish _ -meadows. The blossoms of both these .pT.si_.ts exhale the fumes of deadly prussic acid by night and all flowers throw off considerable quantities of carbonic ecid gas in tbe darkness, this being why it is unhealthy to keep flowers in. a bedroom. •"■■ii ■ . . i. ' — The aggregate receipts of the London County Council tramways for 207 days of last year amounted to _5301,080 6s B_, as against £.248,393 2s ll_d for the same period 1902. An Italian authority- finds that when bens are fed on food containing a large percentage of iron the eggs 'also reveal the presence of iron in the very digestible form of the -albuminate. Such eggS**«xert a tonic effect on persons who eat them. The case illustrates the fact that all eggs are' not alike by any means, and that, according to the food fed, they may vary greatly in dietetio value and effect. i ■ '■'' . } -