714 JAMAICA. 



leaves of this plant are applied to blifters, inftead of melllot ; boiled' 

 with ground ivy and wild ginger, and then fermented with a little 

 fugar or mdafles, a drink is made, which purges ftrongly, and is a very 

 iignal fpecific in droplies, yaws, and pains in the joints, occafioned by 

 the venereal. The leaves, applied to the head in fevers, relieve pain, 

 and excite a diaphorefis in that part; made into a cataplafm, with caf- 

 fada flour, and a little of the oil, and applied to female breafts, they 

 difcufs coagulated milk, and hardnefs. 



The oil, externally ufed, is excellent in removing cramps, and pains 

 arifing from colds, and kills lice in the heads of children. 



It is but of late that this oil has made an article of the Jamaica 

 exportation, and that only in very fmall quantities ; it now forms part 

 of the Britifh materia medlca, but is moft ufually obtained there from 

 the feeds imported in barrels ; the oil, drawn in the Weft Indies, not 

 being encouraged, becaufe it is-^ manufa£fure. What is intended for 

 exportation, fhould be packed in jars, well ftopped with corks or plugs* 

 covered with waxed cloth, and properly tied, or wired, or in fmall 

 tight calks. The oil is not fubjedl to contraft rancidity, unlefs it is 

 made from parched or roafted feeds, which are impregnated with an: 

 empyreuma, 



12. Anotto, or Roucoi; — Bixa. 



This flirub is very common in Jamaica. It loves a rich {oil, and 

 fhady fituation, and flioots luxuriantly near rivuhts. The pods, or 

 feed veffels, when full ripe, are of a deep brown colour, open of 

 themfelves, and contain between 30 and 40 feeds, covered with a 

 fplendid rtdi farina. When a fufficient number of thefe feeds are col- 

 lected from the pod, they are thrown into any convenient vefTel, and 

 as much hot water poured upon them as is neceflary to fufpend the 

 xtAfarirja, which is gradually wafhed off the feeds by the hand, or a 

 fpoon. When the feeds appear quite naked, they are taken out, and 

 the waQi left to fettle ; after which, the water is gently poured away, 

 and the fediment put into fhallow veffels, to be dried by degrees in 

 the fliade ; and, after acquiring, by this means, a due confiftence, it 

 is made into balls, or cakes, and fet to dry thoroughly in an airy 

 I place 



