Leguminosae] THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. - 185 
sown in the Botanic Garden of Saharunpore, to call it Cassia acacalis, in a catalogue 
which however was never prepared for publication. (Journ. Asiat. Soc., 1. p- 452.) 
The family or group of Cesalpinee contains a number of trees and plants, which are 
highly valued. for their products, though there is not among these that general resem- 
blance which we have so frequently seen characterising the products obtained from 
plants of the same natural order. Among these, however, are some of the most orna- 
mental of the vegetable kingdom, as the splendid Amherstia nobilis, Cassia fistula, Jonesia 
Asoca, Poinciana pulcherrima, and several Bauhinias, many of which are remarkable for 
their size as climbers, as well as for the singular arrangement of their woody fibre. 
’ Several of this tribe are valued for their red-coloured wood, as Haematoxylum campechi- 
anum, affording log-wood ; Cesalpinia echinata, and C. crista, Brazil-wood: In India 
a similar product, bukkum or sapan-wood, is yielded by C. sappan, growing only in the 
southern parts, but indicating where the South American species might be most success- 
fully cultivated. Adenanthera pavonina, common in the forests of Southern India, also 
yields a wood of a deep red colour, used as a dye, and for various economical purposes ; 
this is called rukta-chundun, or red sandal-wood, a name which is also applied to the 
wood of Pterocarpus santalinus, another of the Leguminose. The red colour is generally 
an indication of astringent and tonic properties in the products of plants; the latter, 
unaccompanied however by the red colour, is found in a remarkable degree in a plant 
closely allied to the Cesalpinias. This is Guilandina bonduc, Kutkurenja of the natives, 
Akutmookt, or SS of Avicenna; and, there is some reason for supposing, one of 
the kinds of eagle-stone of the ancients. The seeds I have found a powerfully effective. 
and cheap remedy in the cure of the intermittents, with which the natives of India are 
so frequently attacked. The bark of a kind of Bawhinia, called kobdar, is described as 
being astringent; that of B. variegata, and also of Cassia auriculata, are, according to 
Dr. Roxburgh, used by the natives in tanning and dyeing leather, as well as in medi- 
cine. Some of the tribe yield good timber, others, as Bauhinia racemosa and parviflora, 
have bark employed in making rope. An oil is expressed from the seeds of some, as 
Cesalpinia oleosperma; others exude a mild gum, like Mimosee, and some other plants, 
which have at the same time an astringent bark. A brownish-coloured gum is said by 
Dr. Roxburgh to be afforded by his Bauhinia retusa. It is also collected from B. emar- 
ginata, in the Deyra Doon, and called sem-ke-gond.. 
Some of the American plants of this tribe yield products with more decided proper- 
ties; such as Copaifera officinalis, yielding balsam copaiva. Dr. Roxburgh inquires, 
whether the nearly-allied Hardwickia binata may not , Produce a similar product ? 
Hymenea Courbaril affords the resin called anime. The Mexican tree which. yields. 
the true copal is not so well known, but supposed to be allied to the last. The 
copal of the East-Indian market is the produce of Vateria Indica, p. 107. A fragrant 
resinous. principle is secreted by Aloexylum agallochum. Some of the species yield 
acid edible fruit, as the tamarind-tree, of which both the red and common kinds are 
known in India. The kernel of the seeds, like those of the mangoe, are eaten in 
2B times 
a 
