182 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOTANY OF (Leguminosae. 
open country near Saharunpore, A. arabica, with farnesiana, are common, as every 
where in India, with A. alliacea, in the hedges. In the dry Bangur land, between Saha- 
runpore and Delhi, Acacia modesta and Prosopis spicigera, are found; and near the latter 
city, Desmanthus cinerea, belonging to the section Dicrostachys of D. C., formed into a 
genus by Messrs. Wight and Arnott, and of which the other species are found in Abyssinia 
and Senegal. To the neighbourhood of Delhi also extend A. /eucophea and catechuoides ; 
and Jnga dulcis flourishes in gardens within that city. From Central India I received 
a hew species, A. ervosa, through the kindness of Captain Jenkins, from the neigh- 
bourhood of Nagpore. The resemblance to the flora of Africa, which has been indi- 
cated, is confirmed by the occurrence in India of two species of Mr. Brown’s genus, 
Parkia, as to this belong Dr. Roxburgh’s Acacia biglobosa and pedunculata. A. ara- 
bica, bubool, and Prosopis spicigera jhand, extend north into the country between the 
Beas and Ravee (Burnes’ Travels.) 
With the exception of the fruit, in which some anomalies are presented here as in 
other families, the Mimosee offer great uniformity in the properties of the different 
species. Several afford gum as an exudation, secrete an astringent bark, and form 
excellent timber. Thus, on the western coast of Africa, Acacia verek yields gum- 
Senegal; in Nubia, A. nilotica and Seyal, gum-arabic; and in New Holland, A.decurrens _ 
affords a substitute for these, as A. arabica, farnesiana, and speciosa do in India. The 
bark of A. arabica or bubool of the Hindoos, is considered in India a valuable tonic and 
astringent, and, abounding in tannin, is extensively ysed in tanning leather. A. nilotica 
is so used in Nubia, and A. Adansonii, yielding a reddish gum, in Senegambia ; Acacia 
bark is exported from New South Wales, and might be so from many parts of India. 
Owing to the transference of this astringent matter into the woody tissue, the old high- 
coloured wood of some species is used for making the astringent extract, known under 
the name of catechu. It is probable that other plants may be used for obtaining an 
extract similar to this, as we learn from Dr. Ainslie that the kinds called cuttacumboo 
and cashcuttic, are manufactured in the Peninsula from the Areca catechu; but the 
_ greater portion of that which is used in or exported from India, is manufactured from 
the Khuer or Acacia catechu, as Mr. Kerr and Dr. B. Hamilton have described its 
manufacture from this plant in Canara and Behar. In Northern India the Kutt manufac-— 
turers move to different parts of the country in different seasons, erect temporary huts in 
the jungles, and selecting trees fit for their purpose, cut the inner wood into small 
chips. These they put into small earthen pots, which are arranged ‘in a double row along 
a fire-place built of mud (choola); water is then poured in until the whole are covered ; 
after a considerable portion has boiled away, the clear liquor is strained into one of the 
neighbouring pots, and a fresh supply of material is put into the first, and the operation 
repeated until the extract in the general receiver is of sufficient consistence to be poured 
into clay moulds, which, in the Kheree Pass and Doon, where I have seen the process, 
are generally of a quadrangular form. This catechw is usually of a pale red colour, and 
is considered there of the best quality, By the manufacturers it is conveyed to Saharun- 
pore 
