49 IIORTUS JAMAICENSIS: barbadors 



sun hogan to abate ; l>e nlsosoTnctiinos took the same qujintity in the rhJdvileof the day, 

 l)iit this was only when he felt somu sviiijiloms of an ajjpioaciiing fevor. Fiy this pre- 

 caution he preserved liimseif, dinins tlie five years he resided at Sc;negal, from ilic 

 diarrhcra and fever, which are so i'atal tlierc, and which are, however, the only dan- 

 gerous diseases of the place ; and other officers sufleved very severely, only one ex- 

 cepted, upon which M. Adansou pi-evailed to use this remedy, w.iiich, for its simplix-itv, 

 vvas despised hy tiie rest. This ptisan alone also prevents the heat of urine, which is 

 common in those parts, provided the person abstains from wine. 



The friiit is not less useful tlian the leaves and tlic hark. The prdp that envelope.'? 

 the seeds has an agreeable acid taste, and' is catei-, for pleasure: it is also (hi cd and 

 pov,-dered, and thus used medicinally in pestilential fevers, the dysonterv, and blof)dy 

 flux : the dose is a drachm, j^assed throuoh a fine sieve, taken either in common water, 

 OF in an infusion of the plantain. This infusion is brought into Europe tmder the name 

 of ferra si^i/Uifa lemiiia. The woody barl> of the fruit, and the fruit itself, v/hen spoiled, 

 helps to supply the negroes ith an excellent soap, which they make bv drawing a ley 

 from the ashes, and boiling it with ))alm-oil that begins to be ranciii. 



The trunks of these trees, when decayed, are hollowed out and made the burying 

 place of esteemed characters among the negroes in Africa, and it has been observed, 

 that the bodies sh'it up in these trunks become perfectly dry v.'ithout rotting, and fcnn 

 a kind of mummies without embalement. Tliis tree is propagated fcom seeds. 



EARBADOES CHERRY. MALPIGHIA. 



Cl. 10, OR. 3. Dccandria trigynia. Nat. or. Trihilaitv. 



This genus was named by Plumier in honour of IMarcello Miilpighi, professor of me- 

 dicine at Bologna, the famous author of Anatome Plantarum. 



Gen. CHAR. Calyx a five-leaved perianthium, erect, very small, permanent, con- 

 verging, it has two melliferous glands, oval and gibbous, fastened to the calyciiie 

 leaflets on the outside and at bottom ; the corolla has five petals, kidney-form, 

 large, plated, ciliate, spreading, concave, with long, linear claws; stamina are 

 awl shaped filaments, placed in a cylinder, erect, united below, small ; anthers 

 cordate ; the pistillum has a roundish germen, small, with three filiform styles ; 

 stigmas blunt; the pericarpium is a globular berry, torulose, large, one-celled; 

 the seeds are three, bony, obJong, blunt, angular, with an oblong blunt kernel. 

 There are many species, of which seven have been found in Jamaica. 



1. GLABRA. SMOOTH. 



Arhor baccifera, folio suhrotimdo, fnictu ccrashio sulcata ruhro pol>j~ 

 pijreno, ossiculis ccnuwhifis. Sloane, v. 2, p. 106, t. 207, f. 2. 

 Fruttcosa CA-ecta, fuliis nilidis ovato-acuminatis, Jlorihus lanbcllutis, 

 ramulis gracilibm. Brownie, 230. 



Leaves ovate, quite entire, smooth, peduncles umbelled. Flowers in axillary 

 or termmating bunches, about four flowers in each. The pedicels have a sin- 

 gle joint, calyx incurved, petals sub-cordate. Stigmas simple with a little 

 Ji'op. 



