RosALES.] FABACE^. 547 



Braziletto, Logwood, and Rosewoods of commerce ; the Laburnum ; the classical Cy- 

 tisus ; the Furze and the Broom, both the pride of the otherwise dreary heaths of 

 Europe ; the Bean, the Pea, the Vetch, the Clover, the Trefoil, the Lucerne, all staple 

 articles of culture by the farmer, are so many Leguminous species. The Gums Arabic 

 and Senegal, Kino, Semia, Ti'agacanth, and various other drugs, not to mention Indigo, 

 the most usefiU of all dyes, are products of other species, and these may be taken as a 

 general indication of the purposes to which Leguminous plants may be applied. There 

 is this, however, to be borne in mind, in regarding the qualities of the Order in a general 

 point of view ; A-iz., that upon the whole it must be considered poisonous, and that 

 those species which are used for food by man or animals are exceptions to the general 

 rule : the deleterious juices of the Order not being in such instances sufficiently 

 concentrated to prove injurious, and being, in fact, replaced to a considerable extent by 

 either sugar or starch. This will become more apparent from the detailed account 

 which now follows. 



Papilionace^. 



It is in this part of the Order that we principally find species with nutritious, or at 



least wholesome qualities ; thus Clover, Medick, Lucerne, Trefoil, &c., are well-known 



fodder plants, as are also Saintfoin, Ornithopus or Serradilla, various Astragali, Crotalaria 



juncea, Desmodium diffusum, Indigofera enneaphylla, 6cc., in different parts of the world. 



The seeds of many are common articles of food, under the name of Pulse. Of these 



the most remarkable is the Arachis hypogeea, or under-ground 

 Kidney-bean, whose pods are foi'ced into the groimd after the 

 flowering has been accomphshed. This and the Voandzea 

 are very largely cultivated by the African negroes, who call 

 the Arachis, MunduU. The seeds contain a very large quan- 

 tity of oil. More common kinds of pulse are Peas, Beans, 

 Lentils, Pigeon-peas (Cajanus), the seeds of various species of 

 DoHchos, Phaseolus, &c. It is, however, to be remarked, that 

 they are often very imwholesome ; the roots of Phaseolus 

 are dangerously narcotic, as will be seen hereafter. The ripe 

 seeds of Lathyrus Aphaca, called by the French Vesce cultive, Fig. CCCLXXn. 



are narcotic and produce excessive headache, but when gi'een 



they are eaten without inconvenience ; and Christison tells us that flour in which the 

 seeds of Lathyrus Cicera have been ground up is poisonous. Beans themselves cannot 



be given to horses in much quantity without bad effects. Of nutritious or saccharine 



quahties in other parts we have several useful instances. The roots of the Liquorice 

 (GlycjTrhiza glabra) contain an abundance of a sweet mucilaginous juice, which is much 

 esteemed as a pectoral, but it is sub-acrid ; similar quahties are ascribed to Trifohum 

 alpinum roots, and those of GlycjTrhiza echinata and glanduhfera. The roots of Abrus 

 precatorius possess exactly the properties of the Liquoi'ice-root of the shops. In Java 

 they are foimd demulcent. Those of Dohchos tuberosus and bulbosus, Apios, Pueraria, 

 and Lathyrus tuberosus, are wholesome food. A land of Manna is produced by species 

 of Camel's- thorn, related to Alhagi Maurorum. It is remarkable that this secretion is 

 not formed in India, Arabia, or Egypt : chmates Uke those of Persia and Bokhara seem- 

 ing alone suited for its production. It is the Tereng jabun of the Arabs, and is gathered 

 by merely shaking the branches. Such is the importance of this plant as a food for 

 cattle that the Afghans, who call it Ka-ri-shutui', or Jaursa, believe that the serious loss 

 of those animals, experienced in the Afghan operations, arose from the want of this 

 plant. Some wnriters are of opinion that this was the Manna on which the childi'en of 

 Israel were fed in the wilderness. A sweet quality is also found in Astragalus glycy- 

 phyllus and other species of that genus, in Saintfoin (Onobrychis sativa), in the leaves, 

 root, and inner bark of Robinia Pseudacacia. 



Well-marked purgative properties occur in Colutea arborescens (Bladder Senna), 

 whose leaves are used for adulterating the blunt-leaved Senna of the druggists, Coronilla 

 Emerus (Scorpion Senna), and C. varia, which last is even poisonous ; as well as in 

 certam species of Genista, Cytisus, Robmia, CUtoria, Anagyris foctida, &c. A decoction 

 of the yoimg tops of Cytisus scoparius (Broom) is diuretic and cathartic ; its seeds are 

 said to be emetic ; Mead and Cullen found them useful in dropsy. Tephrosia Senna is 

 used as a purgative by the people of Popayan. 



Many are tonics and astringents. The bark of Agati grandiflora is powerfully bitter 

 and tonic. The root of Ormocarpum sennoides is accoxmted in India tonic and stimu- 

 lant. The root and seeds of Sophora tomentosa have been regarded as specifks in 

 biUous sickness. African Kino is the produce of Pterocarpus erinaceus. Dr. Royle 

 has proved that East Indian Kmo is formed by Pterocarpus marsupium. Gum Dragon 



Fig. CCCLXXII.— Arachis hypogsea. 



nn2 



