8o THE MICROSCOPE. 



s^dccUons. 



Jamaica Dogwood (Piscidia Erythrina.) — For a long time 

 all that was known regarding this plant, was the fact, that the natives 

 employed the bark of the root for taking fish in some of the larger 

 rivers; hence its name piscidia erythrina — from piscis, a fish. A 

 certain quantity of the powdered bark of the root would be thrown 

 into the water with the certainty of stupefying or narcotizing a large 

 number of the fish. These would float on top of the water and so 

 were easily caught. It killed the smaller fish and sometimes even 

 the larger ones. Fish caught in this manner were eaten without 

 hesitation and were not considered unwholesome. 



The common name is Jamaica dogwood, at one time it was 

 called Linne erythrina piscipula — the "fish-catching coral-tree," and 

 it has been sold quite extensively in Brazil under the name of 

 mulungii or marungii. It belongs to the natural order Leguminoseae. 

 It is found in the islands of the West Indies, and is indigenous in the 

 Antilles, where it is extensively distributed, flourishing chiefly in the 

 lowlands, and on calcareous and volcanic soil in the vicinity of the 

 coast. It is found most frequently in Jamaica. It is a small tree of 

 about twenty feet in height, of very irregular spreading branches, 

 with long compound leaves. The leaflets are opposite, three or four 

 paired, with an odd one. They are oblong or elliptical, rounded at 

 the base, entire, somewhat coriaceous, about two inches long and 

 quite pointed. When young the leaves are covered on both surfaces 

 with minute hairs, but when old they are nearly smooth. The lower 

 surface is paler than the upper and covered with minute white dots. 

 The leaves are shed early in the year, and previous to the develop- 

 ment of the new foliage the flowers make their appearance. The 

 wood is considered valuable being very heavy and resembling our 

 English oak in durability and firmness. 



The pulverized bark of the root is the part employed in catching 

 fish, and the bark of the root is the part used in medicine and 

 should be gathered during inflorescence, otherwise it is unreliable. 



Description. — The bark of commerce appears in pieces of two to 

 four inches in length and from one to two inches wide and about an 

 eighth of an inch in thickness. The outer surface of some of the 



