X 



L 



, - ■ 



F 



ably, yet in India they are all denominated Khaatli or Catechu.; 

 ^ But the tree which affords the beft extrad, according to his defcrip 



tion, appears evidently to be a Mimofa/ . - 



In this uncertainty our knowledge concerning the produdion of 

 Terra Japonica ftill remained, till Mr. Kerr (affiftant furgeon to the 



civil hofpital at Bengal) tranfmitted an account of this fubft 

 which completely removed every doubt refped;ing its origin. In this 

 account we are told, that he not only carefully attended to the procefs 

 of the manufacturer in the preparation of Catechu, but that 





felf ; and upon the faith of the figure and defcriptio 

 of the plant which he has given, and from which he prepared the 

 Catechu, the younger Linnaeus has admitted it into the Supp. Plant, 

 under the name of Mimofa Catechu ; and we have accordingly 

 figured the plant. The preparation of the extract is ftated by Pvlr. 

 Kerr to be as follows : " After felHng the trees, the manu 

 carefully cuts off all the exterior white part of the wood. The 



coloured wood i's cut into chip 

 unglazed earthen pot, pour in 2 



1, with which he fills a narrow-mouthed 



water upon them until he fees it among 



the upper chips; Vv^hen this is half evaporated by boiling, the decodtion. 



ftraining, is poured into a flat earthen pot, and b 

 third part ; this is fet in a cool place for one day, and afterward 

 evaporated by the heat of the fun, fi:irring it feveral times in the day 

 when it is reduced to a confiderable thicknefs, it is fpread upon a m 

 or cloth, which has previoufly been covered with the aihes of co 

 dung ; this mafs is divided into fquare or quadrangular pieces by 

 firing, and completely dried by turning them frequently in the fu 



s 



a 



V 



they are fit for fal 





^ 



t Th 



oriental language, fignifies a tree, and Chu, juice. 



This 



Catechu feetns to favour this opinion ; Caie, m the 



/ ^ 



^ /Vccording^to the Linncean nomenclature u-e have no erenus under "the name A 



But the Mimofas are very numerous, and that mod know 



or hmT^:>lQ/e>i/itive plant, and the remarkable contradions which it rnanifefls upon being 

 touched, or even approached, induced my ingenious friend Dr. Marfhal, to diffect the 

 moving fibres. In his letter to me, he fays, " J have made two or -three diffeaions 



t^^ 

 ^ 



h 



\ 



*' (mbre to gratify the curiofity of the moment than to afcertain any difcovery) of th„ 

 " flelhy joints of the Mimofi pudica j branch is articulated v/Ith ftem, petiolus with 

 « branch, and petmlus of the leafit with the common petiolus. V/ithin the Mhy fub- 

 " ftance of the joint are found numerous Vv'hite threads, which go from- the one articu- 

 " lated body to the other, ' — - 



fibres, by which the motions ar^ performed." . 



Thefe 



f^ 



Irritable 



1 



e u 



In making the extrad^ the pale hioym wood Is preferred, as it produce 



N 



{h 



/ 



