PRIDE OF CHINA. 125 



ihe Melia azedarach, a specimen of Epidendriim magnolise, where it had been 

 planted the spring before. What was remarkable, it had continued to flower all 

 the winter on the azedarach, while in the woods no flowers were to be found ! 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the azedarach is of a reddish colour, and 

 is organized in the distribution of its fibres similar to those of the ash. It is suffi- 

 ciently strong and durable to be employed in civil architecture, and is adapted 

 to various uses in the mechanic arts. It has already been employed for pulleys, 

 which in Europe are usually made of elm, and in America of ash. It is said 

 to make good fuel. The fleshy part of the fruit, like that of the olive, yields a 

 fixed oil, which is bitter, and is considered as anthelmintic, and a narcotic stim- 

 ulant. The leaves are universally used in India for poultices, and both the 

 flowers and seeds are stimulant. The berries, though said by the Arabian phy- 

 sician, Avicenna, to be poisonous, and the pulp of which was mixed with grease, 

 for the purpose of killing rats and dogs, are often eaten by children in the south, 

 without injurious effects. According to Mr. Royle, however, the fruit is consid- 

 ered as poisonous when used in large doses. The bark of the root, when green, 

 has a bitter, nauseous taste, yielding its virtues to boiling water, and may be 

 employed as a cathartic or emetic, and is considered as an efficient vermifuge, 

 and also may be used with advantage in intermittents. In Persia, an ointment 

 is made, for the cure of some cutaneous eruptions, by mulling the leaves with 

 lard. It is also said that a kind of toddy is obtained by fermenting the sap of 

 young and vigorous trees. The nuts are often bored, as before stated, by monks, 

 and strung into beads. Hence the names of Bead-tree, and Paternostri di San 

 Domenico. 



