EARTH-NUT FURZE OR WHIN. 375 



nutritious than the kinds of green food usually grown in this 

 country, but that it has a greater value in this respect than 

 the green food that can be grown on land of the same inferior 

 quality. 



Glycyrrhiza glabra, Liquorice. The liquorice plant, some- 

 times named Liquoritia officinalis, is a native of Spain, and 

 other countries bordering on the Mediterranean and Black 

 Seas. For many years it has been cultivated in several parts 

 of England. The roots are extensively used in porter-brewing 

 as well as in medicine. 



Abrus precatorius, Wild Liquorice. This plant grows in 

 the West Indies. The roots have the same properties as our 

 liquorice. The seeds are used for rosaries. They are fre- 

 quently thrown, along with other W T est Indian seeds, on the 

 north-west coast of Scotland. Linnaeus affirms that the seeds 

 are deleterious, yet they are eaten in Egypt, though the hardest 

 and most indigestible of the pulse tribe. 



Arachis hypogcea, Earth-nut. The pods of the Arachis 

 hypogcea, as they ripen, force themselves under ground hence 

 the name, earth-nut. In South Carolina the seeds are used for 

 chocolate, and instead of almonds. An oil is obtained from them, 

 which is employed in lamps, and also as a substitute in diet- 

 etics for the oil of olives. The plant has been raised in the 

 neighbourhood of Paris, and the fruit employed like other 

 legumes. The oilcake left after the expression is sometimes 

 met with in commerce. The oil is now sold in this country 

 for dietetic purposes. 



Geoffroya superba affords a drupaceous fruit, which is used 

 as food in some parts of Brazil. 



Alhazi maurorum, Camel's Thorn. This plant yields a kind 

 of manna. 



Ulex Europceus, Furze or Whin. As an agricultural plant the 

 furze has been sown in several parts of Britain to form hedges ; 



