"^^^ ANACARDIACE^. [Hypogynous Exogens. 



Spondiaceae. It differs from Anacards in having a many-celled instead of a 1-celled, 

 1 -seeded drupe ; and on this more than anything else the character of the supposed Order 

 was made to depend. But it appears that in the beginning Spondias has 5 distinct 

 carpels, inclosed -ndtliin a large fleshy cup, and that the gi'owing together of these carpels 

 is an after operation, imconnected with original structvu'e ; a Mango, in fact, if it had 

 5 carpels instead of 1, would be almost a Spondias. For this reason the supposed Oi-der 

 does not seem to be tenable. It is true that its o^'ules are described as being suspended 

 from the apex of the cells ; but this seems to arise from the cord contracting an adhesion 

 with the side of the cells. 



A ^^Titer in the LinncBa suggests that Anacards should be placed in the same class 

 with INIalpigliiads (xiv. 243). A better approximation would have been to the Order of 

 Juglands, with wliich they are not associated, chiefly because of their flowers not being 

 amentaceous, nor usually absolutely ^ $ . Pistacia, indeed, is so, and some others ; but 

 the mass of the Order is polygamous, or has distinct rudiments of a $ in the ^ flowers. 



Chiefly natives of tropical America, Africa, and India ; a few are found beyond the 

 tropics, both to the north and south. Pistacias and some species of Rhus inliabit 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 Cliile and the adjacent districts. The Order is unkno\\Ti in New Holland. 



Large trees, with inconspicuous flowers, abounding in a resinous, sometimes acrid, 

 highly jDoisonous juice, are the ordinary representatives of this Order, to which belong 

 the Cashew-nut, (Anacai'dium occidentale), the Pistacia-nut (Pistacia vera), and the 

 Mango fruit (Mangifera indica). Of these trees the Mango is the most important, its 

 fruit being as highly valued in ti'opical as the Peach in temperate countries ; its bark, 

 especially that of the root, is a bitter aromatic, and is employed against diarrlicea, leucor- 

 rhoea, &c. ; the yoimg leaves are pectoral, the old leaves are used for cleaning the 

 teeth, the seeds are anthelmintic ; a resin that flows from the stem is reputed to be 

 antisyphilitic. Some are celebrated for yielding a clammy juice, which afterwards turns 

 black, and is used for varnishing m India ; as the common Cashew-nut. The vai*nish 

 of Sylhet is chiefly procm-ed from Semecarpus Anacardium, the marking Nut-tree of 

 commerce ; and the varnish of Mai'taban from the Theet-see or Kheu, a plant called by 

 Waliich Melanorrhoea usitatissima. All these varnishes are extremely dangerous to some 

 constitutions ; the skin, if inibbed with them, inflames and becomes covered ^^^th pimples 

 that are difficult to heal ; the fumes have been known to produce a pamful swelling and 

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

 hands as far as the face and eyes, which became swelled to an alarming degree. I have 

 kno^-n an instance of similar effects ha^^ng been produced by roasting the nuts of Ana- 

 cardium occidentale. But there are some constitutions wliich are not affected in any 

 degree by such poisons. These varnishes are at fii'st white, and afterwards become 

 black. Tliis has been ascertained by Brewster to arise from the recent varnish being 

 an organised substance, consisting of an immense congeries of small parts, which disperse 

 the sun's rays in all du-ections, hke a thin film of unmelted taUow ; while the varnish 

 which has been exposed to the air loses its organised structm'e, becomes homogeneous, 

 and then transmits the sun's rays of a rich, deep, uniform red colour. Such a secretion is 

 probably the substance mentioned by Ainshe as the Black Lac of the Burmah coimtry, 

 with wliich the nativ^es lacquer various kinds of ware. The valuable black hard varnish 

 called Japan Lacquer, is obtained from Stagmaria vemiciflua in the Indian archipelago : 

 this resin is extremely acrid, causing excoriations and bhsters if apphed to the skin ; 

 the people of Sumatra consider it dangerous even to sit or sleep beneath its shade ; 

 the manner of preparing its varnish is fully described in Jack's Malayan Miscellanies, 

 p. 81. (Calcutta edition.) A black varnish well known in India is manufactured from 

 the nuts of Semecarpus Anacardium and the berries of Holigarna longifolia. Augia 

 chinensis produces a varnish in China and Siam. Odina wodier, Buchanania latifoha, 

 and many more Indian species, have the same property. Several Comocladias stain the 

 skin black. 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 

 some of them fill the air with fragrance after rain ; and S. ^lolle, Duvaua latifolia, 

 and some others expel then- resin \\\\h such violence when immersed in water as to 

 have the appearance of spontaneous motion, in consequence of the recoil. See Bot. Reg. 

 1580. Schinus Arroeu'a is said by Auguste de St. Hilau'e to cause swelhngs in those 

 who sleep under its shade. The fresh juicy bark of tliis slunib is used in Brazil for 

 inibbing newly -made ropes, which it covers with a very dxu'able bright dark-browii coat- 

 ing. The juice of the same plant is applied by the Indians in diseases of the eye. This 

 last plant, and also Rhus coriaria, possess acid quahties. The fruit of Cassuvium occi- 

 dentale and Anacardium orientale is said to exercise a singular effect upon the brain. 

 Mastich, a resin useful for strengthening the gums and sweetening the breath, is the 



