Ria ANACARDIACEZ:. 
Description.—Leaves more or less viseid with a shining 
yellowish resin, very variable in breadth, 1 to 5 by 3 to 14 in. 
They retain their green colour for a considerable time when 
dried, and when heated in a water-oven fuse together into a 
mass. Taste sour and astringent. 
Chemical composition.—The leaves contain principally two 
acid resins, one insoluble in ether, and both soluble in alcohol 
and chloroform. They are dissolved in ammonia and the fixed 
alkalies with an orange-red colour, and are precipitated on the 
addition of an acid. he resins amount to 27:3 per cent. of 
the dried drug. A tannin, giving a greenish colour with ferric 
salts, forms the bulk of the evaporated spirituous extract » 
soluble in water. The leaves contain 10 per cent. of gum 
forming a thick ropy liquid in water. No alkaloidal substance 
was discovered, but a large quantity of albuminous matter 
was removed by caustic soda. The ash amounted to 5 per 
cent. of the dried and powdered leaves. 
Plants of minor importance belonging to this Order are 
fEsculus indica, the Himalayan Horse Chestnut; the 
fruit of which is made into a paste and applied externally for 
rheumatism. The seeds, like those of the European Horse 
Chestnut, are readily eaten by cattle, and have been made use 
of as a food by the hill tribes in time of famine. The knots in 
the stems of Acer pictum and A. cz#sium are made 
into the curious water-cups supposed by some of the Himalayan 
hill tribes to have a medicinal influence over the water. 
ANACARDIACEA. 
-RHUS CORIARIA, Linn. 
Fig -—Dend. Brit. 136. NBicheavia Sumach (£ng.), 
Sumac des corroyeurs (F'r.). 
Hab.—Asia Minor, Persia, The leaves and fruit. 
Vernacular-—Sumék or Sumtik tea , Tatrak (Hind.). 
