FAMILY HERBAL. 



A. 

 Acacia Tree. Acacia vera sive spina JEgyptiaca. 



THE acacia is a large but not tall tree, with 

 prickly branches : the leaves are winged, or 

 composed of several small ones set on each side a 

 middle rib ; and the flowers are yellow. The 

 trunk is thick, and the top spreading - . 



The leaves are of a bluish green ; and the flowers 

 resemble in shape pea blossoms ; many of them 

 stand together. These are succeeded by long 

 and flatted pods. The seeds contained in each 

 are from four to seven ; and the pod between 

 them is very small and narrow : the breadth is 

 where they lie. 



The tree is frequent in Egypt, and there are 

 a great many other kinds of it. No part of the 

 acacia tree is kept in the shops ; but we have 

 from it two drugs : 



1. The acacia juice, and 2. The gum arabic. 



The acacia juice, or suecus acacia?, is like liquor- 

 ice juice, hard and black. They bruise the un- 

 ripe pods and seeds, and press out the juice which 

 they evaporate to this consistence. The gum 

 Arabic wozes out of the bark of the trunk and 



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