1889.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 379 



them can be used for cooking, and is an excellent substitute for 

 olive oil. Brya JEbenus furnishes a beautiful wood for fancy work. 

 The handsome scarlet and black seeds of Abrus precatorius are used 

 as ornaments, they are said to be poisonous. The roots form a good 

 substitute fur liquorice. The seeds of Rhynchosia are used for beads. 

 Cajanus is the pigeon pea, valuable as an article of food. Phaseolus 

 lunatus, the Lima bean, is an excellent table vegetable. Canavalia 

 produces the red sea beans or Nickers. The beautiful horse-eye 

 beans come from Mucuna wrens, the hairs of which, known as Cow- 

 itch, are used sometimes as a mechanical anthelmintic. The juice 

 of Cassia occidentalis is said here to be good for eruptions. Its 

 roots are diuretic. 



Order XXXV. ROSACEAE. 



Of the nine tribes into which this order is divided in Le Maout's 

 and Decaisne's Botany, two only, Amygdaleae and Chrysobalaneae, 

 are represented in the wild flora of the Bahamas. One other Roseae 

 is cultivated in gardens. 



Tribe ROSEAE. 



1. Rosa, Rosa. 



Many kinds of roses are cultivated here, where they attain great 

 perfection, and bloom throughout the year. 



Tribe AMYGDALEAE. 



1. Prunus sphaerocarpa, Sw. (Catesb.) 

 Indigenous. West Indies. 



Tribe CHRYSOBALANEAE. 



1. Chrysobalanus Icaco, L. (Griseb.) 



Cocoa-plum. Indigenous. West Indies and in Tropical Africa: 

 This fruit is eaten fresh and preserved ; the bark and leaves are a 

 remedy in diarrhoea 



Order XXXVI. CRASSULACEAE. 



1. Bryophyllum calycinum. S. 



Life Plant ; from Asia, now naturalized throughout West Indies 

 and Tropical Africa. This plant is well known, from the power it has 

 of producing buds from the margin of the leaves, which afterward 

 become complete plants. Its leaves are said to be a cure for head- 

 ache, and the juice is said to allay inflammation. 



