ANA 



ANA 



ANABASIS, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentandria Digynia class and order: es- 

 sen. char.; cah.\, three-leaved; cor. five- 

 pi tailed : vberry, one-seeded, surrounded 

 by a calyx : tlicre are four species. 



"ANACARDIUM, in botany, acajou, a 

 genus of the KnneandriaMonogynia class 

 and order; its characters are, that it has 

 hermaphrodite flowers, and male flowers, 

 either mixed with the hermaphrodites, or 

 on a distinct tree. The calyx of the 

 former isaperianthium, five-leaved, leaf- 

 lets ovate, concave, coloured, erect, and 

 deciduous ; the corolla has five petals, 

 lanceolate, acute, three times as long as 

 the calyx, upright at bottom, reflex at the 

 end; the stamina have ten filaments, 

 united at the base and upright, nine of 

 them capillary, shorter than the calyx ; 

 the pistiUum. has a germ, kidney-shaped, 

 obliquely emarginate in front, style subu- 

 late, bent in, the length of the corolla ; 

 stigma small, roundish, depressed and 

 concave : no pericarpium ; receptacle 

 fleshy, very large and obovate ; the seed 

 a nut, kidney-shaped, large at the top of 

 the receptacle, with a thick shell, cellular 

 within, and abounding in oil. The calyx, 

 corolla, and stamina, of the male flowers, 

 as in the hermaphrodites; the pistillum 

 her no germ, or one that is abor- 

 tive. There is one species, viz. A. occi- 

 dentale, cashew-nut, cassu or acajou. 

 The cashew is an elegant tree, 12 or 16 

 feet high, spreading much as it rises, and 

 beginning to branch at the height of five 

 feet, according to Browne ; but Long af- 

 firms that in good soil it spreads to the 

 size of a walnut tree, which it resembles 

 in the shape and smell of the leaves ; 

 the trunk seldom exceeds half a foot in 

 diameter; the leaves are coriaceous, sub- 

 ovate, shining, entire, petioled, and scat- 

 tered alternately ; and terminating, con- 

 taining many small, sweet-smelling flow- 

 ers, on oblong receptacles, scarcely dis- 

 !iaile from the peduncle; the co- 

 rolla red, with commonly 10 stamens, one 

 of which has no anther, but it has fre- 

 quently eight, or only seven, all fertile ; 

 and there are sometimes female flowers, 

 entirely destitute of stamens. The fruit 

 has an agreeable subacid flavour, in some 

 degree restringent; in some of a yellow, 

 and in others of a red colour, which differ- 

 ence may be probably owing to the soil 

 or culture. The juice of the fruit, fer- 

 mented, aHords a pleasant wine; and 

 distilled, yields a spirit exceeding arrack 

 or rum, and serves to make punch, and 

 also to promote urine. The ripe fruit is 

 sometimes roasted and sliced, and thus 



used for giving an agreeable flavour to 

 punch. The restringency of the juice 

 has recommended it as a remedy in drop- 

 sical habits. From one end of the apple 

 proceeds the nut, which is kidney- 

 shaped, inclosed in two sheUs, the outer 

 of an ash colour, and smooth, and the 

 inner covers the kernel. Between these 

 shells is lodged a thick, inflammable, and 

 very caustic oil, which, incautiously ap- 

 plied to the lips and mouth, inflames and 

 excoriates them. This oil has been suc- 

 cessfully used for eating oft' ring-worms, 

 cancerous ulcers, and corns; but it 

 should be very cautiously applied. Some 

 females have used it as a cosmetic, in or- 

 der to remove the freckles and tan occa- 

 sioned by the scorching rays of the sun, 

 but it proves so corrosive as to peel oil 

 the skin, and cause the face to inflame 

 and swell ; but after enduring the pain 

 of this operation for about a fortnight, 

 thin new skin, as it may be called, ap- 

 pears, fair like that of a new born infant. 

 This oil also tinges linen of a rusty iron 

 colour, that can hardly be got out ; and 

 when smeared on wood it prevents decay, 

 and might, therefore, serve for preserv- 

 ing house timber and ships' bottoms. The 

 fresh kernel has a delicious taste, and 

 abounds with a sweet milky juice ; it is 

 an ingredient in puddings, &c. and is 

 eaten raw, roasted, and pickled. The 

 negroes of Brazil, who are compelled by 

 their masters, the Portuguese, to eat this 

 nut, for want of other sustenance, obtain 

 relief from this involuntary use of it in 

 various disorders of the stomach. When 

 the kernel is ground with cacao, it im- 

 proves the chocolate ; but if it be kept 

 too long, it becomes shrivelled, and loses 

 its flavour and best qualities. The milk} 

 juice of the tree, obtained by tapping or 

 incision, will stain linen of a deep black, 

 which cannot be washed out; but whe- 

 ther this has the same property with that 

 of the eastern anacardium, has not yet been 

 ascertained ; for the inspissated juice of 

 that tree is the best sort of lac which is 

 usedforstainingblack in Chinaor Japan. 



ANACHIJOMSM, in matters of litera- 

 ture, an error with respect to chronology, 

 whereby an event is placed earlier than i* 

 really happened, inwhichscnse it stands 

 opposite to parachronism. 



A N A< ' K KONTir rt-rse, in ancient poe- 

 try, a kind of verse so called from its 

 being much used by the poet Aim 



p, coaMts of three feet and a half, usually 

 spondees and iambics, and son 

 auapests ; such is that of Horace, 



