CliUVlFEIl.E. G49 



*B. oi.KRACEA, L. Cultivalcil. 



Thara-bur-mung-lri. 



Stcra-lcavos basall)- Li-nad and sessile, but not clasping the stem. Petals wliile 

 or yellowish white, with violet veins. 



li. campi'stris embraces the various sorts of ' turnips,' and 11. ahracea the different 

 varieties of ' cabbage.' The seeds of all species yield a useful oil. 



Slason remarks, "I have seen a species of mustard on the banks of the Tenasserim 

 several days' journey from any human habitation, and which the Karens regarded as 

 growing spontaneously, but it did not appear to ditt'er from the s])ecies in common 

 culture on the coast, and the seeds had probably been dropped there by the passing 

 traveller." 



** Po(h uliort, dehiscing al iny their whule length, nut articuhilej the rnlrcs flat, at 

 right angles to the scptuui. 



LEPiDirir, Linnmus. 

 Pods oblong, notched, 2- rarely -l-scedcd. F/uwi-rs white. 

 * L. SATIVUM, L. Cultivated only. 



Sa-mnng-ui. Garden cress. 



*■'■■'* Pod': elungtile, indehi-sernt, not jointed, but contracted (tiid jxtliy icithin letweeii 

 the seeds. Cotgledons iitcii/nbeiit. 



liArnAXCS, Linnmis. 

 Flowers pale lilac or white with coloured veins. 



*E.. SATivns, L. Cultivated and wild (?). 



Mung-lu. The Kadish. 



The vegetaldes of this family, the cabbage for example, are valuable for their 

 anti-scorbiitic properties, and the seeds for the oil they yield. Black mu.stard yields 

 a volatile pungent oil, familiar to all who have mixed mustard. The oil does not, 

 however, exist ready made, as may be known by the dry mustard powder not 

 exhaling it till wetted. Cold ivuter dissolves the albuminous principle {mgrosinc) 

 in the seed, thereby enabling it to combine with the wi/ronie acid, the product 

 being the volatile acrid principle whose fumes rise so copiously from the mustard 

 as it is being mixed. Hence mustard .should be always made with cold water, 

 ■which is a more etiective solvent of albumen than hot. Mustard flour to the 

 extent of two or three tcaspoonfuls in water forms an excellent emetic, especially 

 in narcotic poisoning, effectually clearing the stonuich, without producing dejiressicm. 

 A mustard poultice is a well-known ajiplication, but rather messy, and a far more 

 elegant preparation is sinapine tissue, which is simjily a line jiaper charged with 

 the vesicating jjrinciple of the seed, and far more cleanlj- and pleasant to use than 

 the crude article. 



To this Order also belongs the plant ' AVoad ' (/w/Z-s tinctoria), which furnished 

 our remote ancestors with a blue ])igment with which to ornament their bodies. 

 Another curious plant is the Hose of Jericho' {Anustatica Jlierochuntieo), which 

 ■wlien ripe contracts into a rounded cushion, formed of the pods and branches curled 

 in on each other. Tliis cushion is curiously susceptible to hygrometric action, and 

 if placed in water the pods and branches unfold and expand under the influence of 

 the moisture absorbed. Women in labour sometimes place this plant in water, in 

 the fanciful hope that simultaneously with its expansion their own delivery may be 

 accomplished. 



' This iLinie is ,ilso applied, according' to Ili'oker, to tlie capsules of Mcscmhnjnnlhcmum ami 

 Scliiijiiictta lejiitioplit/lla. 



