83 FAMILY HERBAL 



threads ; the fruit is round, and of a blood red 

 when ripe. 



We use a resin which oozes from the bark of 

 large trees of this species in great plenty, and is 

 called copal ; it is of a pale yellow colour, some- 

 times brownish, and often colourless, and like gur.t 

 arable ; we have a way of calling it a guru, but 

 it is truly a resin; and the yellow pieces of it are 

 so bright and transparent, that they very much re- 

 semble the purest amber. 



It is good against the whites, and against weak- 

 nesses left after the venereal disease ; but it is not 

 so much used on these occasions as it deserves. 

 It is excellent for making* varnishes; and what is 

 commonly called amber varnish among our artists 

 13 made from it. Amber will make a very fine var- 

 nish, better than that of copal, or any other kind ; 

 but it is dear. 



We sometimes see heads of canes of the colour- 

 less copal, which seem to be of amber, only they 

 want its colour ; these are made of the same resin 

 m the East Indies, where it grows harder. 



Coral. Cor allium, 



A SEA plant of the hardness of a stone, and 

 with very lit t lo of the appearance of an herb, 

 The red coral, which is the sort used in medicine, 

 grows a foot or more in height ; the trunk is as 

 thick as a man's thumb, and the branches are 

 numerous. It is fastened to the rocks by a crust 

 which spreads over them, and is covered all over 

 with a crust also of a coarse substance and striated 

 texture. Towards the top there are (lowers and 

 seeds, but verv small ; from these rise the young 

 plants. Tiie seeds have a mucilaginous matter 

 about them, winch sticks them to the rocks. The 



