URT1CACE.E. 499 



*oi of the Bible is the name of some tree or shrub, and it is doubt- 

 fully translated Mulberry-tree. Dorstenias have a slightly concave 

 broad receptacle, bearing numerous flowers (fig. 245). D. Contrayerva, 

 D, Houston^ and D. brasiliensis furnish the Contrayerva-root of commerce. 

 The oificinal part is the root-stock, which is used as a stimulant, tonic, 

 and diaphoretic. Broussonetia papyri/era is the Paper-mulberry, so called 

 on account of being used in China and Japan in the manufacture of a 

 kind of paper. It is called Crape-paper, and is prepared by pounding 

 the bark, steeping it in water, then mixing it with glue, and taking it 

 up with a mould of Bamboo-screen of the size required. The dye- 

 wood called Fustic is the produce of Maclura (Broussonetia) tinctoria. 

 1022. The Artocarpus section is important as regards its uses. 

 Artocarpus incisa, the Bread-fruit tree, supplies an amylaceous fruit, 

 which furnishes an abundant supply of food in tropical countries. 

 The properties of this tree are thus enumerated by Hooker: The 

 fruit serves for food ; clothes are made from the fibres of the inner 

 bark ; the wood is used for building houses and making boats ; the 

 male catkins are employed as tinder ; the leaves for table-cloths and 

 ibr wrapping provisions in; and the viscid milky juice affords birdlime. 

 A. integrifolia is the Jack or Jaca, the fruit of which attains a large 

 size, sometimes weighing thirty pounds, and is inferior in quality to 

 the Bread-fruit. In both instances the fruit is a sorosis, consisting of 

 numerous flowers on a common axis, which becomes succulent. The 

 milky juice of many of the Artocarpus tribe supplies caoutchouc, and 

 in some instances it is used as a substitute for milk. This is the case 

 with the juice of Galactodendron utile (perhaps a species of Brosimum,) 

 which is called Palo de Vaca, or the Cow-tree, in Demerara. While 

 the juice of some is nutritive, that of others is highly poisonous. Thus, 

 Antiaris toxicaria is the source of the famous poison called Bohun- 

 Upas, or Upas-Antiar, by the Javanese, and which is said to owe its 

 properties to the presence of Strychnia. Another Upas poison, called 

 Upas-Tieute, has already been noticed under the order Loganiaceae, as 

 being the produce of a species of Strychnos. The wood of Piratinera 

 guianensis (probably a species of Brosimum) is called Snake-wood, or 

 Letter-wood in Demerara, and is used for articles of furniture. Speci- 

 mens sent by Dr. Campbell from Demerara have been beautifully 

 manufactured in Scotland. The bark of Lepurandra saccidora (pro- 

 bably a species of Antiaris) is used for forming sacks. Mr. N. B. 

 Ward, in London, has one of these bags in his Museum, which has 

 been formed by separating the bark entire from the wood throughout 

 the whole extent, with the exception of a small portion at one end. 

 The wood has then been removed from the interior, a part being 

 left with the bark attached to form the bottom of the sack. The 

 seeds of many of the Artocarpus tribe are eaten. Brosimum Alicas- 

 trum yields bread-nuts, which, when boiled or roasted, are nutritious 



