82 VERBENACE^. 



quantity of the peculiar bitter principles, dissolved by 

 ether, associated with an acrid resinous substance, and some 

 fatty material. It is interesting to observe, however, that the 

 reactions of the bitter principle, although occurring in such 

 small quantity, were identical with that obtained in the leaves 

 of the other two species, where it formed from ^ to 1 per cent, 

 of the total. 



AVICENNIA OFFICINALIS, Lim. 



Fig.— ^aZZ. PI As. Bar. m., t 271 ; TFight Jc, t. 1481 ; 

 Eheede, EorL Mai iv., t. 45. The White Mangrove {^ng.)f 

 Paletuvier blanc {Fr.). 



Jiab. — Mangrove swamps of Deccan Peninsula and 

 Ceylon. The seeds and bark. 



Vernacular. — Bani {Beng.), Mada-chettu, Nalla-mada [Tel) 

 Fpputi {Mai.), Tivara (ilfar.), Timmar {Stud). 



History, Uses, &C. — This plant derives its generic name 

 from the celebrated Arabian physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina) . ihe 

 green fruit mixed with butter and boiled is made into a plaster, 

 which is used for softening and maturing tumours, and to promote 

 the healing of the ulceration caused by small-pox. This property 

 of the fruit is alluded to by Camoens in the ^^Lusaid*' 



" Wide forests there beneath Maldivia's tide 

 From withex^ing air their wondrous fruitage hide. 

 The green -hair'd Nereids tend the bowery dells. 



Who 



91 



^ The bark is astringent and is used by tanners- In Madras 

 the ashes of the wood are used by washermen for washing clothes. 

 Ihe wood is valued on account of its durability under water, 

 and as a fuel for heating furnaces it is preferred to other kinds 

 of wood on the West Coast of India- The seeds are bitter, but 

 are sometimes eaten. 



Description. — A slirub or tree with opposite evergreen 

 leaver, which are oblong, entire, and covered beneath with » 

 white pubescence. The flowers are arranged in closely-packed 



