ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY. 183 
the Balsamic or acrid or even poisonous qualities of the resinous juices with which nearly the 
whole abound, and from which the order derives its name. ‘I’o arrive at a clearer understand. 
ing of the properties of this extensive class it seems requisite in considering them, to treat 
separately of those of its different divisions. 
ANACARDIES. To this suborder belongs Semecarpus anacardium, the well known mark. 
ing nut of India. The juices of this tree are very acrid and injurious to those who work on the 
e Rhus or Sumach family have been long celebrated for their acrid poisonous properties. 
R. toxicodendron and R. venenata afford striking examples of these qualities. It is said 
pustules. The two species of Rhus, natives of India, are not endowed with these acrid 
properties, at least I have never experienced any such effects though I have frequently 
tine, and still better and much more extensively used ‘ Gam Mastich,’ so famed as a masticatory 
for whitening and preserving the teeth. From this sli 
embrace the whole, it will be seen that this suborder includes a large proportion of interesting 
and useful trees. 
Sponprace®. The fruit of Spondias mangifera is eatable—so is that of some of the 
West Indian species, where they have received the name of hog’s plums. From wounds in the 
bark of S. mangifera a large quantity of a very pure gum flows, which is, I believe, collected and’ 
currently sold in the Bazaars as gum arabic, which it greatly resembles. In this product, this 
suborder differs widely from all the others of the order, and combined with its Botanical pecu- 
liarities goes far to justify its separation as a distinct order. Rheede, in Hortus Malabaricus, 
attributes many valuable properties to this tree which seem to be either imaginary or generally 
unknown, as I have never in a single instance heard of its being used medicinally. Roxburgh 
States that the young fruit is made into pickles, tarts, &c. : 
Burseracex. The products of this tribe are much more highly esteemed than those of 
either of the preceding—among those we find Myrrh, Copaiva, Olibanum, Balm of Gilead, 
Frankincense, &c. The fragrant unirritating balsamic qualities of all these substances, so very 
