ARiiPvr-i!CA9 H OUT US JAMAICEJS!3iS, 29 



pretty thick, and, when cool, is spread out to dry, and then made up into balls, which 

 are usvialiy wrapped up in leaves. Arnotto ol" a good quality is of the colour of fire, 

 bright within, soft to tiie touch, and dissolves entirely in water. 



The arnotto is said to be an antidote to the poisonous juice of manioc or cassada. 

 Labat informs us that the Indians prepare an arnotto greatly superior to ours, of a bright 

 shining red colour, almost equal to carmine. For this purpose, instead of steeping and 

 fermenting the seeds in water, they rub them witli the hands previously dipped in oil, 

 till the pellicles come off, and are reduced into a clear paste ; which is scraped off from 

 the hands with a knife, and laid on a clean leaf in the shade to dry. 



It is sometimes used to give a riciiness of colour to butter, cheese, and soups, in 

 small quantities. Hughes tells us that the wood of this tree, being rubbed, produces 

 fire, and that th^ bark makes long durable lines. The root is of a grateful taste and is 

 used as sallron ; they have much the same properties as the wax, but are said to work 

 more powerfully by the urinary passages. Tiie Indians paint themselves with the ber- 

 ries, mixed with lemon-juice and rum. The arnotto was formerly used by dyers^ 

 but at present it is not held in such estimation as a dye, though it still maintains its 

 ground with painters. 



ARROW-HEAD. SAGITTARIA. 



Cl. 21, OR. 7. Monwcia polyandria. Nat. ob. Tripetaloidice. 



This plant takes its name from the form of the leaves resembling the head of an 

 atrow. 



Gen. char. ^The calyx of the male flower is three-leaved, the leaves ovate, coacave, 

 permanent ; corolla three-petalled, petals roundish, blunt, flat, spreading, three 

 times as large as the calyx ; the stamina numerous, often twenty-four, awl-shaped, 

 collected into a head, anthers erect : the female calyx has three leaves, and the 

 corolla three petals, as in the male ; there are no pistils but numerous genuens, 

 collected into a head, gibbous outward, ending in very short styles, with acute 

 stigmas; the receptacle globular ; seeds numerous and naked. There are two 

 species which grow plentifully in Jamaica. 



1. SAGITTIFOLIA. 



Sagitta. Sloane, v. 1. p. 188. 



Leaves arrow-shaped acute. 



This grows in great plenty in Jamaica. Sir Hans Sloane saith, he hath seen the same," 

 ptant sent from Fort St. George, in the East-Indies, by the name of coolette yella. It 

 grows much like our European arrow-head, and hath its name from its shape ; viz. 

 sagilta si\'e sagittaria. Tournefort calls it ranunculus palustris folio sagittato maximo. 

 It generally grows in standing waters, and is counted a peculiar wound herb, whether 

 inwardly taken or outwardly applied ; the root, bruised and apphed to the feet, helps 

 the crab-yaws in negroes. Barham, p. 6. 



2. :lancifolia. 



Plantago aquatictt. Sloane, v. 1, p. 187. Foliis maximis, smph'ci- 

 bis, ohlongis, utringne produces ; ramidU xxrti.cillatis ; caule glu" 

 kro, Browne, p. 345, 



Leaves. 



