10 THE PLANT WORLD. 



An African butler tree is the Jiiiii/fo.\p,riinui) Parkl!^ a tree from 

 60 to 90 feet in height. The kernel (»f the fniit is pounded and l^oiled. 

 A fatty substance rises to the top of the water; it is skimmed oti' and 

 strained, and is eaten with relish by the natives. To foreigners, like 

 most of these substances, it has a rancid, disagreeable taste. 



The Calaba tree of West Indies and Brazil yields a good oil for 

 burning in lamps in those countries where gas and the electric light 

 are not. Another West Indian tree, the Macaw })alni or Grugru tree 

 [Ad'oriiania fmiforntiH)^ })r()duces an oily nut, which, when crushed 

 and purified, becomes like butter in consistency. It has an odor re- 

 sembling violets, and is used for perfuming soa}). 



The Wax palm is VoperniclH cerifera, native to Brazil, a tree of 

 about 40 feet in height. The leaves when young are covered with a 

 waxy secretion, which is obtained by violently shaking and beating 

 them. The wax thus shaken off makes very good candles. Another 

 such tree is the Veroxylon audicoUi, of New Granada. I'he whole stem 

 of the plant becomes covered with a Avhitish substance, which, when 

 scraped off and purified, is used in candles. This is a regular article 

 of trade, the candles being in demand in the service of the Roman 

 Catholic church. 



A gum nearly equal to gum Arabic, is made from the mesquit 

 trees, Pi'osojjls glanduJoxa and P. dtdcls, collected in their season in 

 great abundance in Texas and Mexico. Another species of mesquite 

 with twisted pods produces a kind of molasses. The Cashew-nut, on 

 being tapped, yields a gum not unlike gum Arabic of special use in 

 keeping insects away from books and herbariums. 



Eiq^horhlnm re-nnlfera yields a gum used in anti corrosive })aint 

 for preserving the bottoms of ships. In the milk form, it also is very 

 excoriating, and causes sneezing and inflanmiation of the eyes. 



Gum Senegal is collected in lumps as large as an Qgg, from an 

 Acacia growing upon the banks of the Gambia, a gum reddish or yel- 

 lowish in color. 



Bassorin Gum Tragacanth, gum dragon or vegetable jelly exudes 

 from the stem and lower parts of Ai<fragidiis gumiuifei', appearing 

 from Decem])er to March, in Smyrna. The stem is incised near the 

 root at night, and in the morning the gum is collected, a fine, white 

 flaky substance. It is also obtained from roots of some orchids. It is 

 used in printing calico, and to thicken paints, mordaunts, etc., as a 

 vehicle for insoluble })Owders, and for fastening beetles and other in- 



