CAXYCIFLOE.^. 525 



of Carob, Locust, and St. John's Bread. Its pulp has a very sweet taste, 

 and is supposed to have been the food of St. John in the wilderness. The 

 Carob Bean contains about 63 per cent, of sugar when in a dried state, and 

 upwards of 20 per cent, of other respiratory and fat-producing principles, 

 and about 1 per cent, of oil. Hence it is especially adapted for fattening 

 purposes, and it is now largely imported into this country as a food for 

 cattle. It is said that the small seeds of this plant formed the original carat 

 weight of jewellers. 



Codarium {Dialium) acutifolium and C. ohtusifolium yield fruits which are 

 knoA^Ti imder the names of Brown and Velvet Tamarinds. They are both 

 natives of Sierra Leone. The pulp of both species is eaten, and has an 

 agreeable taste. 



Copaifera. — Several species of this genus, as C. muUijuga, C. officinalis, 

 C. Langsdorfii, C. coriacea, kc, yield the oleo-resin, commonly known under 

 the name of Balsam of Copaiba. This is obtained by making incisions into 

 the stems of the trees. The Copaiba of commerce is principally derived 

 from C. multijuga, and is imported from Brazil. C. pubiflora, and probably 

 C. bracieata also, furnish the Purple Heart or Purple" Wood of Guiana, 

 which is largely emploj-ed for making musket-ramrods, &;c. C. Guibourtiana, 

 or Guibourtia copallifera, is the principal, if not the sole, source of the 

 copal resin. of Sierra Leone. Dr. Welwitsch has recently, however, ex- 

 pressed his belief that aU West African copal, and probably aU gum resin 

 exported under this name fi-om Tropical Africa, may be looked upon as a 

 fossil resin, produced in times past by trees which at present are either 

 entirely extinct or exist only in a dwarfed posterity. 



Dialium indicum yields a fruit called the Tamarind Plum, the pulp of 

 which has an agreeable slightly acidulous taste, somewhat resembling that 

 of the common Tamarind. (See Codarium.) 



Guilandina (Ccesalpinia) BonJucella, the Nicker Tree. — The seeds are vary 

 bitter, and possess tonic and antiperiodic properties. They have been em- 

 ployed in India with success in intermittent fevers, &c. The bark also 

 iwssesses bitter and tonic properties. The seeds are also used for necklaces, 

 rosaries, Sac. 



Hcsmatoxylon campechianum. — The wood is employed in dyeing, and as an 

 astringent and tonic in medicine. It is commonly known iinder the name 

 of Logwood. It contains a crystalline colouring principle called hoema- 

 toxylin or hcematin, to which its properties are essentially due. 



Hymeniea. — H. Courbaril, the West-Indian Locust-tree, is supposed to fm*- 

 nish G-um Anime or East-Indian Copal, but upon no reliable authority. Some 

 of the East-Indian Copal is, however, probably obtained fi-om JI. verrucosa. 

 Mexican Copal is also supposed to be derived from a species of Hymeinea. 

 The inner bark of H. Courbaril is said to possess anthelmintic properties. 

 The seeds of the same plant are imbedded in a mealy substance, which is 

 sweet and pleasant to the taste, and when boiled in water, and the mixture 

 afterwards allowed to undergo fermentation, an intoxicating beverage is 

 obtained. This tree gi'ows to a large size, and its timber, under the name of 

 Locust-wood, is used by ship-carpenters. 



Mora excilsa. — This plant, which is a large tree, a native of Guiana, fur- 

 nishes the Mora Wood employed lai-gely for ship-building. The bark is 

 astringent, and useful for tanning. 



Parkinsonia ac«/eata.— Useful fibres are obtained fi-om the stems of this 

 plant. 



Poinciana pulcherrima. — The roots are said to be tonic, and the leaves to 

 have purgative properties. 



Swartzia tomentosa, the BuUy-tree, a native of Guiana, yields a hard and 

 dm-able wood, called Beefweod. 



Tamarindus indica. — The fi'uit of this plant is the well-known Tamarind. 

 It contains an agreeable, acidulous, sweet, and reddish-bro-wn pulp, which, 

 •when preserved in sugar, is employed medicinally in the preparation of a 

 cooling laxative drink. 



Ti-achylobium. — Dr. Kirk has recently sho-wn that T. mossambicense is the 

 botanical source of the kind of Zanzibar Copal, kno^\-n as " Sandarusi-m'ti," 

 Tree Copal. He also believes that the Copal known in the English market as 



