BOTANY. 



they are white, and have an agreeable odour. The berry 

 is globular, and incloses two nuts, of stony hardness, 

 and each containing an oily kernel. 



A dark gum exudes from the trunk of this tree in 

 large masses ; it appears to possess no active proper- 

 ties, and may be applied to all the uses of gum-arabic ; 

 when spread, in the form of mucilage, over the interior 

 of boxes, it protects their contents from the ravages of 

 insects. It was formerly a custom with the Society 

 Islanders, to skewer the kernels of the nuts, and burn 

 them for artificial illumination ; and the same practice 

 is still pursued by the Sandwich Islanders, with whom 

 cocoa-nut oil is scarce. A manufactory has been esta- 

 blished at Oahu for the preparation of Candle-nut oil, 

 which is found admirably adapted for a paint-oil ; it 

 has been long employed by the natives of that island as 

 a mordant for their vegetable dyes, and is applied to 

 the same purpose by the Malays of Timor. The root 

 of the tree affords the Pitcairn Islanders a brown dye 

 for their bark-cloth ; and most Polynesian nations use 

 the gum that exudes from the trunk, to give a gloss to 

 their stained tapa. 



Pitcairn and Society Isles ; native name tv? tui t 

 Sandwich and Marquesan Groups, ku' km. Timor. 



Ricinus mappa. A low and crooked tree, common 

 on the sea-shore. 



Society Isles ; native name tuinina. Timor. 



R. inermis. Castor-oil Plant. This species is an 

 under-shrub, and very abundant on the plains of Oahu. 

 The young branches, as well as the foot-stalks of the 

 leaves, are bright-red. The seeds or "nuts" are large, and 

 yield a good medicinal oil. 



