BOOK III. CHAP. VIII. 803 



The green fruit, thoroughly boiled, fqueczcd, and dulcified with a 

 little fugar and lemon juice, is frequently ufed as a fubftltute for ap- 

 ples in fauce and tarts, and refemblcs them fo exa6tly in tafte, as 

 fcarcely to be diftinguifhed. 



The milky liquor, obtained from the raw fruit, is faid to take away 

 warts, and deftroy the ring-worm. 



The Negroes are poflelled with an opinion of the good or bad qua- 

 lities of particular trees, when planted near any habitation, as to the 

 effefts their neighbourhood may occafion to the inhabitants. This opi- 

 nion feems to be well founded ; for as trees (efpecially in this climate) 

 have a very extenfive atmofphere, and difFufe a fragrant or difagreeablc 

 odour to a great diftance around them, fo it is hig'-!ly probable, that 

 thefe effluvia are impregnated with fome of the more effential properties 

 of the tree, from which they are refpired; and thus may have a confe- 

 quence to health, fimilar to the breath of a difeafed perfon, or the 

 vapour of a perfumed fubftance. There may alfo be falutary or nox- 

 ious qualities in the atmofphere of fome, when the particles are fo fub- 

 tile as not to be diftinguiflied by the olfadory fenfe. The fmell of the 

 manchioneel fruit has fomething in it which induces a fenfation of 

 faintnefs and languor. The fcent emitted from the opopinax wood, 

 and roots frefli cut, is exquifitely cadaverous and loathfome. The fe- 

 cret agency of thefe effluvia of trees and plants may have a more pow- 

 erful influence upon human health, than many are aware of. 



The Negroes fuppofe that the papaw trees are very conducive to ren- 

 der the air healthy, and therefore plant them near their houfes. The 

 bloffoms are extremely odoriferous, and the trunks fo fucculent, and 

 growth fo quick, that they pofiibly affiH to drain the foil, where they 

 are planted, of luperfluous moiHure. Thefe properties, exclufive of 

 any other, may ferve to corrcd the air, in certain lituations. The full- 

 grown papaws, as well as the plantain trees, feem to be good natural 

 conductors of lightning, from the redundancy of aqueous fap v/hich 

 they contain. 



159. GuAVA. — PJidium fruclicojum. 



The fruit of this tree, which is common every where in the ifland, 

 is juftly eftecmed very agreeable, efpeciaily the preferve or marmalade 

 niade'from it, which might form an article of export to the North . 

 American colonics. The wood is extremely tough, and general!}'- 



<; K 2 ufcd 



