72 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March 



they fall. The blossoms are brown and white, ana possess a 

 very unpleasant odour ; the fruit is a drupe, not unlike the olive 

 in appearance, only larger, and it contains a rugose nut, which, 

 after being polished, is applied to many ornamental uses. Accord- 

 ing to Royle, the fruit of at least one species is eaten like olives, 

 and those of other kinds are pickled and used by the natives of 

 India, in their curries. The nuts are strung and employed as 

 sacred beads by the Brahmins, and Royle says they are set in 

 gold, and even sold as ornaments in the shops of Europe. I am 

 unable to trace the origin of the native name, but the generic one 

 is derived from elaia, the olive tree, and karpos, a fruit, in 

 allusion to the resemblance between the fruits of the Perim-kara 

 and the olive. Nat, ord. Elaeocarjmcece. 



Seeds of the Red-wood Tree (^Adenanthera pavonina^ 

 Linn.) — This is a large tree, and, amongst the natives of India, 

 its timber is known as one of the red sandal-woods. The flowers 

 are small, fragrant, and of a yellowish white ; the seeds are 

 scarlet, glossy and hard. Like those of Ahrus precatorius, the 

 latter are used by the Hindoo jewellers as weights — each one 

 being supposed to be equal to four grains ; but, as they vary a 

 good deal in size, they are, of course, not to be depended upon 

 for this purpose. Bruised and beaten up with borax and water, 

 we are informed that a cement is made from them, and their pulp, 

 when mixed with honey, is used medicinally. The timber is very 

 hard, of a deep red colour, and exceedingly durable ; it aflbrds a 

 dye, which does not appear to be either very much used or very 

 valuable. The tree was long since introduced from the East into 

 the West Indies, and it has become very abundant there. In 

 Jamaica, according to the Journal of Horticulture, the bi-convex 

 seeds are known as Circassian beans. Lady Coote beans, and St. 

 Vincent beans, and they are used for necklaces and other orna- 

 ments. Loudon, in his list of synonymes, quotes bastard flower- 

 fence as the property of this tree. It belongs to the nat. ord. 

 Legumuiosce, and the seeds are produced in a twisted, sickle-shaped 

 pod, which usually contains about ten or a dozen. The generic 

 name is derived from the fact of the anthers being gland-tipped — 

 from aden, a gland, and anthera, an anther. 



Sandal-wood (^Santalum album, Linn.) — Sandal-wood, some- 

 times called Sauuders-wood, is the produce of SanUdum album of 

 the nat. ord. Santalacece. It is a native of India and other 

 countries of the East, and is a small, handsome tree, with 



