Description of the milk tree in South America Humboldt Alexander von Oliver Lubrich Thomas Nehrlich Gesamtherausgeber Vollständige digitalisierte Ausgabe. Schweizerischer Nationalfonds Yvonne Wübben Sarah Bärtschi Herausgeber Band 1, Texte 1789–1799 Rex Clark Sarah Bärtschi Herausgeber Band 2, Texte 1800–1809 Jobst Welge Michael Strobl Herausgeber Band 3, Texte 1810–1819 Norbert D. Wernicke Michael Strobl Herausgeber Band 4, Texte 1820–1829 Bernhard Metz Thomas Nehrlich Herausgeber Band 5, Texte 1830–1839 Jutta Müller-Tamm Michael Strobl Herausgeber Band 6, Texte 1840–1849 Joachim Eibach Thomas Nehrlich Herausgeber Band 7, Texte 1850–1859 Norbert D. Wernicke Redakteur Apparatband Johannes Görbert Redakteur Forschungsband Corinna Fiedler Redakteurin Übersetzungsband Michael Hagner Eberhard Knobloch Alexander Košenina Hinrich C. Seeba Beirat Thomas Nehrlich Luca Querciagrossa Norbert D. Wernicke Frank Wiegand XML-Kodierung Frank Wiegand Programmierung Universität Bern Alexander von Humboldt in Bern Alexander von Humboldt: Sämtliche Schriften (Aufsätze, Artikel, Essays). Berner Ausgabe digital
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 III.56 1818-Sur_le_Lait-44-neu secondary Description of the milk tree in South America Humboldt Alexander von 1829 London in: <i>The Olio; or, Museum of Entertainment</i> 3 (Januar–Juli 1829), S. 157. unknown

Antiqua

Antiqua; Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung.

 Englisch
DESCRIPTION OF THE MILK TREE IN SOUTHAMERICA.

M. Humboldt and his companions, inthe course of their travels, heard an ac-count of a tree which grows in the valleysof Aragua, the juice of which is a nour-ishing milk, and which, from that circum-stance, has received the appellation of the Cow Tree.

The tree, in its general aspect, resem-bles the chrysophyllum cainito; its leavesare oblong, pointed, and alternately mark-ed with lateral veins, projecting down-wards, they are parallel, and are teninches long. When incisions are madeinto the trunk, it discharges copiously aglutinous milk, moderately thick, withoutany acridness, and exhaling an agreeablebalsamic odour. The travellers drankconsiderable quantities of it, without ex-periencing any injurious effects; its vis-cidity only rendering it rather unplea-sant. When this fluid is exposed to theair, perhaps in consequence of the absorp-tion of the oxygen of the atmosphere, itssurface becomes covered with membranesof a substance that appears to be of adecided animal nature, yellowish, thready,and of a cheesy consistence. These mem-branes, when separated from the moreaqueous part of the fluid, are almost aselastic as caoutchouc, but at the same timethey very soon become putrid.

The natives give the name of cheese tothe coagulum which is separated by thecontact of the air, in the course of five orsix days it becomes sour. The milk, keptfor some time in a corked phial, had de-posited a little coagulum, and still exhaledits balsamic smell. If the recent juice bemixed with cold water, the coagulum isformed in a small quantity only; but theseparating of the viscid membranes occurswhen it is placed in contact with nitricacid. This remarkable tree seems to bepeculiar to the Cordiliere du Littoral, par-ticularly from Barbula to the lake of Mar-acaybo. There are likewise some tracesof it near the village of San Mateo; and,according to the account of M. Bredmeyerin the valley of Caucagua, three days’journey to the east of the Caraccas. Thisnaturalist has likewise described the vege-table milk of the Cow-tree as possessingan agreeable flavour, and an aromaticodour; the natives of Caucagua call itthe milk tree. H. B.