The experiment of feeding silkworms upon
the leaves has been tried, but it was not very successful."
"I suppose the worms didn't know that it belonged to the mulberry
family," said Clara, "and I don't see now why it does."
For reply, her governess read:
"'The sap of the young wood and of the leaves is _milky_ and contains a
large proportion of caoutchouc.'"
"Oh!" exclaimed Malcolm; "that sounds just like sneezing. What is it,
Miss Harson?"
"Something that you wear on your feet and over your shoulders in wet
weather; so now guess."
"Overshoes!" replied Clara, in a great hurry.
"How many of them do you wear over your shoulders at once?" asked her
brother. "And it must be a queer kind of sap that has overshoes in it.
Why couldn't you say 'India-rubber'?"
"And why couldn't _you_ say it before Clara put it into your head by
saying 'Overshoes?" asked Miss Harson. "Clara has the right idea, only
she did not express it in the clearest way. The sap of the caoutchouc,
or India-rubber, tree is the most valuable yet discovered, and, as it is
of a milky nature, it can very properly be brought into the present
class of trees."
"Is _that_ a mulberry too?" asked Clara, who thought that the size of
the family was getting beyond all bounds.
"It is not really set down as belonging to the bread-fruit family," was
the reply, "but it certainly has the peculiarity of their milky sap.
However, as I know that you are all eager to hear about the bread-fruit
tree, we will take that next.
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