ANACARDIACEZ,. 389 
4 soluble in alcohol and ether; the solutions are neutral to 
i litmus. This substance is not volatile, but decomposes when — 
4 heated. It blisters the skin strongly. According to Stadeler, 
- it contains 60 per cent. of carbon and 8°8 or 8°9 of hydrogen, 
_ whence he deduces the formula ©? H3! O*; it should perhaps 
_ be 0?! H5° O2, ( Of. Studeler, Ann., Ch. Pharm., Ixiti., 187.) _ 
q The oil of the almonds is sweet, pale-yellow, sp. gr. 0°916; 
3 ‘that of the mesocarp is thick, brown and viscid, sp. gr. 1:014; 
it reddens litmus, and turns darker when exposed to the air ; 
itis soluble inalcohol and ether, and dyes linen of a permanent 
 yellow-red. (Tepine ) 
‘This oil was found by A. Basiner (1881) to be soluble in 
. potassa, with a red colour, darkening on exposure, and its 
% alcoholic solution to yield a red precipitate with basic lead 
_ acetate. Cazeneuve and Latour have found catechin in the 
_ Wood of the Uashew tree. The fruit yields 1°64 per cent. of 
9g ash. ( Wernecke.) 
a Commerce.—Cashew nuts (Féves de Malac, Fr.) are imported 
into Bombay from Goa in very considerable quantities. Value— 
. The Kernels, Rs. 18 per cwt.; the Tar, Re. ¢ per gallon in Goa. 
SEMECARPUS ANACARDIUM, Linn. 
Fig.—Rozb. Cor. Pl. I., t. 12; Wight Ics, t. 553; Beddome 
Fl. Sylv., t. 166. Marking-nat tree (Eng.), Sémécarpe 4 
larges feuilles (Fr.). 
Hab.—Hotter parts of India. The fruit. 
Vernacular.—Bhéla, Bhilawa (Hind.), Bibba (Mar.), Shén- 
kottai, Sheran-kottai (Lam.), Bhilamo (Guz.), Geru (Can.), 
Sambiri, Thembari (Mal.). | 
History, Uses, &c.—The marking-nut, in Sanskrit, 
Bhallataka and Arushkara (causing sores), 18 regarded by the 
Hindus as acrid, heating, stimulant, digestive, carpe - 
escharotic, and ig used in dyspepsia, piles, skin diseases, an 
‘nervous debility. It is prepared for internal use by bee - 
boiled with cowdung and afterwards washed with cold wa ri 
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