LEGUHINOS.E. 403 



emetic. The curved pods of Ccesalpinia coriaria, under the name of Divi- 

 divi, are used for tanning. Ccesalpinia brasiliensis yields the Brazil-wood 

 of commerce, and the Mora- wood of Guiana is yielded by a large tree 

 called Mora excelsa. Many dyes are furnished by the plants of this 

 suborder. Hcematoxylon campeachianum gives Logwood or Cam- 

 peachy-wood, which is employed both as a dye and as an astringent. 

 The inner wood is the part employed both in the arts and officinally. 

 The alburnum is of a yellowish colour, and is not imported. The red 

 colouring principle is Hasmatoxylin. Ccesalpinia echinata furnishes 

 Pernambuco-wood ; C. sajipan, Sappan-wood, the Wukkum or Bukkum- 

 wood of Scinde; Baphia, nitida, Camwood. Various species of Copai- 

 fera, as C. Jacquinii, Langsdorffii, biguga, multiguga, Martii, Guia- 

 nensis, coriacea, &c., furnish the Balsam of Copaiva, of which two 

 kinds are distinguished the West Indian and Brazilian. The balsam 

 contains a resin and volatile oil. It is used in medicine as a stimulant, 

 cathartic and diuretic, and is especially employed in the treatment 

 of mucous inflammations. Cassia Chamcecrista, marilandica, and nicti- 

 tans, all exhibit, according to Bromfield, a high degree of irritability; 

 the leaflets close together almost as soon as gathered, and even when 

 rudely handled or brushed by the feet in walking through the herbage. 

 852. Suborder Mimosece. The plants of this section yield gum in 

 large quantity, and their bark is frequently astringent. Acacia 

 Ehrenbergii, tortilis, Seyal, arabica, vera, (jummifera, Adansonii, Verek, 

 albida, and various other species, yield the gummy substances known 

 as Gum Arabic, Gum Senegal, Barbary Gum, and East Indian Gum. 

 A kind of gum is procured at the Cape of Good Hope from Acacia. 

 Karroo, and in New Holland, A. decurrens yields another variety. 

 A variety of Indian gum procured from A. arabica, is called Babul, 

 or Babool-Gum ; Babul- wood is used for tanning in Scinde. These 

 gums are all more or less nutritive and demulcent, and are adminis- 

 tered in the form of mucilage, emulsion, or lozenges. The Wattles 

 of Australia are species of Acacia, which furnish astringent barks. An 

 extract made from them has been imported for the purpose of tanning. 

 The inner wood of Acacia Catechu, an Indian shrub, furnishes a kind 

 of Catechu, or Cutch, which contains much tannin, and is used for tan- 

 ning, and as a powerful astringent. Some of the New Holland Acacias 

 are remarkable for the peculiar development of the petiole, which 

 assumes the form of a phyllodium (fig. 188 p). The large seeds ofEntada 

 scandens are sometimes carried by the winds and tides from the West 

 Indies, to the shores of the outer Hebrides. Some say that a species 

 of Desmanthus is the source of the cellular substance called Rice-paper; 

 others refer it to the genus sEschynomene. Some of the plants in this 

 suborder display peculiar irritability in their pinnate leaves. This is 

 particiilarly the case with Mimosa sensitiva and pudica, which are 

 commonly called sensitive plants (^[ 659). Almost all of the pinnate- 



