BAOBAB

The African name ol A dans on i a digit at a, a tree inhabiting the western side of Africa, and cultivated in Egypt and Aby in i a. It increases more in proportion in diameter than in height; so that it may be seen with a trunk 10 yards in thickne and only 73 feet high. Its appearance being lumpish and inelegant. It is supposed that the most remarkable cases of longevity in the vegetable kingdom are aflTorded by this tree. Adanson is quoted by De Candolle as a erting that he saw individuals which must have been 6000 years old; and other travellers declare that however ancient the individuals may be, the bark is always green and shining, and so full of life that an abundant discharge takes place at the least wound. It is probable that the data upon which these calculations are made will not bear strict investigation; neverthele , there can be no reasonable doubt of the Baobab trees arriving at a most unusual age. The leaves are employed in powder as an ingredient in African cookery; and the fruit has a sub-acid juice, which makes it valuable in fevers. [s. 142]