378 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1889. 



22. Mucuna urens, Dc. 



Horse-eye bean. West Indies and Brazil. 



23. Erythrina corallodendron, L. 



Coral Tree, Red bean tree. "West Indies and South America. 



24. Piscidia Erythrina, L. {Sivains.) 



Jamaica Dogwood. West Indies. Used for poison by " surging " 

 boughs, or bag containing bruised bark, leaves or roots in water. 

 Bark, narcotic, sedative. 



25. Peltophorum adnatum, Gr. (Swains.) 



26. Sophora tomentosa, L. 



All along tropical sea shore. 



This large order yields more substances, useful in medicine and 

 the arts than any other in the vegetable kingdom. Many of the 

 plants enumerated above possess useful properties. Leucaena affords 

 fodder for horses, but causes their tails and manes to fall off. 

 Many species of Acacia yield gums sold as gum Arabic. A. Fame- 

 siana has flowers which yield a perfume known as Cassie; it is 

 cultivated in other countries on this account. It also yields a valu- 

 able gum. A. Lebbek yields an ornamental wood. 



The species of Acacia have powerful astringent properties and are 

 so used in medicine. The species of Calliandra have very beautiful 

 flowers. Lysiloma furnishes a most valuable timber, well known in 

 Cuba as Sabecue, in the Bahamas as " horse-flesh mahogany." The 

 bark of Pithecolobium is astringent. 



Haemato.xylon. is the well-known dye wood, and has tonic and 

 astringent properties. Guilancllna produces the yellow and slate- 

 colored Nicker beans. They have tonic properties and have been 

 used successfully in intermittent fevers. Caesalpinia pulcherrima is 

 a handsome garden shrub, and in the East Indies its leaves are 

 used as Senna. C. crista is the Bahama Braziletto, valuable as a 

 dye wood. Lebidibia coriaria is the Divi-Divi, whose pods are used 

 in tanning, on account of their great astringency. The leaves of 

 the various kinds of Cassia are much used as purgatives under the 

 name of Senna. Tamarindus, a handsome tree, yields the slightly 

 laxative fruit known as Tamarind. The buds and flowers of Pav.l- 

 linia are used in dysentery. Crotalaria furnishes useful fibre for 

 rope, etc. Arachis, the ground-nut, or pea-nut, is interesting in 

 many ways. It ripens its fruit under ground. Its seeds are excellent 

 for eating when roasted slightly, and if the roasting be continued, 

 they can serve as a substitute for coffee. The oil expressed from 



