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Affinities. The order called Terebintaceae by Jussieu and many other 

 botanists has been broken up into several by Brown and Kunth, but preserved 

 entire by Decandolle, who does not, however, appear to have devoted particular 

 attention to the subject. I follow the former botanists, abandoning .altogether 

 the name Terebintace?e, which is about equally applicable to either Anacar- 

 diacea?, Burseraceas, Connaracese, Spondiacese, or Amyridea?, the five orders 

 which have been formed at its expense. All these are nearly related to each 

 other, and whatever affinity is borne by one of them will be participated in by 

 them all in a greater or less degree. They are distinguished from Rhamneas by 

 their resinous juice, superior ovarium, imbricated calyx, and stamens not op- 

 posite the petals ; from Celastrineaa by several of the same characters, and 

 want of albumen : from Rosacea? and Leguminosre by their definite stamens, 

 dotted leaves, very minute stipulre if any, resinous juice, solitary ovula, or by 

 some one or other of these characters. To Diosmese they approach very nearly, 

 and also to Xanthoxylea?, from which some of them differ in their perigynous 

 stamens. Melanorham is remarkable for its indefinite stamens, and especially 

 for its hypogynous petals becoming enlarged, foliaceous, and deep red as the 

 fruit advances to maturity. 



Geography. Chiefly natives of tropical America, Africa, and India ; a few 

 are found .beyond the tropics,both to the north and the south. Pistacias and some 

 species of Rhus inhabit the south of Europe ; many of the latter genus occupy 

 stations in North America and Northern India, and also at the Cape of Good 

 Hope ; Duvaua and Schinus inhabit exclusively Chile and the adjacent dis- 

 tricts. 



Properties. Large trees, with inconspicuous flowers, abounding in a 

 resinous, sometimes acrid, highly poisonous juice, are the ordinary repre- 

 sentatives of this order, to which belong the Cashew nut, the Pistacia nut, and 

 the Mango fruit. Some trees are celebrated for yielding a clammy juice, which 

 afterwards turns black, and is used for varnishing in India. One kind is from 

 the common Cashew nut. The varnish of S3dhet is chiefly procured from 

 Semecarpus anacardium, the marking-nut tree of commerce ; and the varnish 

 of Martaban from a plant called by Dr. Wallich Melanorha?a usitatissima. 

 All these varnishes are extremely dangerous to some constitutions ; the skin, 

 if rubbed with them, inflames, and becomes covered with pimples that are diffi- 

 cult to heal ; the fumes have been known to produce a painful swelling and 

 inflammation of the skin, which in a case recorded by Dr. Brewster extended 

 from the hands as far as the face and eyes, which became swelled to an alarming 

 degree. I have known an instance of similar effects having been produced by 

 roasting the nuts of Anacardium occidentale. But there are some constitutions 

 that are not affected in any degree by such poisons. These varnishes are at 

 first white, and afterwards become black. This has been ascertained by Dr. 

 Brewster to arise from the recent varnish being an organised substance, consist- 

 ing of an immense congeries of small parts, which disperse the sun's rays in all 

 directions, like a thin film of unmelted tallow ; while the varnish which has 

 been exposed to the air loses its organised structure, becomes homogeneous, 

 and then transmits the sun's rays of a rich, deep, uniform red colour. Brew- 

 ster, 8. 100. The same is probably the substance mentioned by Dr. Ainslie 

 (1. 190.) as the Black Lac of the Burmah country, with which the natives 

 lacker various kinds of ware. A valuable black hard varnish is obtained from 

 Stagmaria vemiciflua in the Indian archipelago ; this resin is extremely acrid, 

 causing excoriations and blisters if applied to the skin. Ed. P. J. 6. 400. A 

 black varnish well known in India is manufactured from the nuts of Semecar- 

 pus anacardium and the berries of Holigama longifolia. Ibid. 4. 450. The 

 leaves of some species of Schinus are so filled with a resinous fluid, that the 

 least degree of unusual repletion of the tissue causes it to be discharged ; thus 



