FAMILY HERBAL. 29 



stance within, as sweet as an almond. Between 

 the two coats of* this shell, as between those of 

 the anacardium, there is a sharp and caustic oil, 

 which serves in the same manner as the other 

 to take off freckles, but it must be used with 

 great caution. It actually burns the skin, so that 

 it must be suffered to lie on only a few moments ; 

 and even when used ever so cautiously, it some- 

 times causes mischief. 



The Bengal Bean-tree. Fala Bevgalensis. 



A LARGE tree, native of the East, and not 

 unlike our plum-tree. It is thirty or forty feet 

 high ; the leaves are roundish, but sharp-pointed, 

 and of a deep green ; they arc finely indented, and 

 of a firm texture. The flowers are large and 

 white ; they resemble, in all respects, the blossoms 

 of our plum-trees. The fruit is a kind of plum, 

 of a long shape, with a small quantity of fleshy 

 matter, and a very large stone. It is a kind ot 

 myrobolan, but is not exactly the same with auy 

 that we use. 



The Bengal bean, as it is called, is an irregu- 

 lar production of this tree : it is very ill-named 

 a bean ; it is truly a gall like those of the oak; 

 but it does not rise like them from the wood or 

 leaves, but from the fruit of this particular plum. 

 It is as broad as a walnut, but flatted, and 

 hollowed in the center ; its original is this : 

 There is a little black fly frequent in that coun- 

 try, which lodges its eggs in the unripe fruit of 

 this particular plum, as we have insects in Eng- 

 land, which always choose a particular plant, 

 and a particular part for that purpose. The flv 

 always strikes the fruit while it is grc.cn, and has 

 but the rudiments of the stone. It grows dis- 



