94 



ANA 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



A X A 



4. Amyris Gileadensis ; Balsam of Gilead Tree. Leaves 

 ternate, quite entire ; peduncles one-flowered, latent!. This 

 is a shrub with purple branches, striated a little, having 

 protuberant buds loaded with balsamic resin j it is, however, 

 doubtful whether it is not the same with the following 

 species : 



5. Amyris Opobalsamum ; Balsam of Mecca Tree. Leaves 

 pinnate, leaflets sessile. The true opobalsamum is said to be 

 produced from this tree ; it is at first turbid and white, of a 

 very strong pungent smell, like that of turpentine, but sweeter, 

 and more fragrant, like Mint, varying according to its good- 

 ness, and of a bitter, acrid, astringent taste ; by age it becomes 

 thin, light, limpid, and of a greenish hue, and then of a gold 

 colour ; after which it grows thick like turpentine, and loses 

 much of its fragrance. Its scarcity has prevented its coming 

 into use among us; nor are its virtues, probably, superior to 

 those of some of the resinous juices more common in the shops ; 



' all these substances being alike in substance and general 

 qualities, though differing in the degree of their pungency, 

 gratefulness, and warmth. It has always been esteemed as a 

 cosmetic : the Eastern women in particular make great use of 

 it. Lady Mary Wortley Montague informs us, that the balm of 

 Mecca, when applied to her face, caused it to become swelled 

 and red during three days, but that her complexion was much 

 mended by the operation. She says, that of the best quality 

 is not easily procured, even at Constantinople, where the 

 women all use it, and have the loveliest bloom in the world ! 



6. Amyris Toxifera ; Poison Ash. Leaflets pinnate ; leaf- 

 lets petiolate, plain. A liquor as black as ink distils from 

 the trunk of this tree, which the Americans say is poison. 

 Birds feed upon the fruit. Native of America. 



7. Amyris Protium. Leaves pinnate ; leaflets petiolate, 

 waved ; perennial. Native of the East Indies. 



8. Amyris Ambrosiaca. Leaves pinnate, petiolate ; pani- 

 cles crowded, axillary. The trunk of this tree is thirty feet 

 high, branching at the top ; the flowers yellowish-white. It 

 is extremely sweet-scented, and pours out a very odorous 

 balsam from the wounded trunk or branches, which is used 

 in the dysentery : the dose is one drachm in red wine ; it is 

 also used in houses and churches, to burn as a perfume. It 

 grows in the woods of Guiana and by the sea-shore, flower- 

 ing and fruiting in September. 



9. AmyrisBalsamifera; Sweet Amyris, White Candle Wood, 

 or Rosewood. Leaves two-paired. This species grows to a 

 considerable size, and is one of the most valuable timber-trees 

 in the island of Jamaica ; the wood grows of a dirty clouded 

 ash-colour, has a pleasant smell, and, bearing a fine polish, 

 is in great repute among cabinet-makers. All the parts of 

 this tree are full of warm aromatic particles, and may be used 

 in baths and fomentations. An infusion of the leaves has a 

 pleasant flavour, is highly cephalic, strengthens the nerves, 

 and is peculiarly restorative to weak eyes. 



Anabasis ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth three-leaved ; 

 leaflets roundish, concave, obtuse, spreading. Corolla: five- 

 petalled ; petals ovate, equal, less than the calix, permanent. 

 Stamina : filamenta filiform, longer than the corolla; anthers 

 roundish. Pistil: germen roundish, acuminate, ending in two 

 styles; stigmas obtuse. Pericarp: a berry ; roundish, sur- 

 rounded by the calix, dilated. Seeds . single, screw-shaped. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: three-leaved. Corolla: five- 



petalled. Berry : one-seeded, surrounded by the calix. 



The species are, 



1. Anabasis Aphylla ; Leafless Anabasis. Without leaves, 

 the joints emarginate. The stem short and roundish ; 

 the berry dyes a yellow colour. It is perennial, and has 

 been found wild on the shores of the Caspian sea,. 



2. Anabasis Foliosa ; Leafy Anabasis. Leaves subclavate. 

 This is seldom more than a foot and half high. Annual, also 

 found on the shores of the Caspian sea. 



3. Anabasis Tamariscifolia ; Tamarisk-leaved Anabasis. 

 Leaves awl-shaped; pericarps juiceless. A shrub with 

 white branches : native of Spain. 



4. Anabasis Spinosissima ; Thorny Anabasis. Shrubby : 

 branches without leaves, but full of spines. A shrub ; its 

 native place unknown. 



Anacardium; a genus of the class Polygamia, order Mo- 

 ncecia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Hermaphrodite jlotcer. Ca- 

 lix : perianth five-leaved ; leaflets ovate, concave, coloured, 

 erect, deciduous. Corolla : petals five, lanceolate, acute, 

 three times as long as the calix, upright at the bottom, 

 reflex at the end. Stamina : filamenta ten, united at the 

 base, upright ; nine of them capillary, shorter than the 

 calix ; one thicker, double the length of the others, lying on 

 the germen in front; anther* roundish; in the longer 

 filamentum large and fertile, in the rest small. Pistil 

 germen kidney-shaped, obliquely emarginate in front ; style 

 subulate, bent in, the length of the corolla; stigma small, 

 roundish, depressed, concave. Pericarp: none. Receptacle: 

 fleshy, very large, obovate. Seed : nut kidney-shaped, large, 

 at the top of the receptacle ; with a thick shell, cellular 

 within, and abounding in oil. Male flowers, either mixed 

 with the hermaphrodites, or on a distinct tree. Calix, Co- 

 rolla, and Stamina, as above. Pistil : germen none, or abor- 

 tive. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-leaved. Petals: 

 five, reflex. Antlierts : ten, one only fertile. Nut: kidney-' 



shaped, on the top of a fleshy receptacle One species only 



is yet known, viz. 



1. Anacardium Occidentale ; Cashew Nut, Cassu, or Aca- 

 jou. This is an elegant tree, twenty feet high. The fruit or 

 apple has an agreeable subacid flavour ; the juice expressed 

 from it, and fermented, yield a pleasant wine ; and when dis- 

 tilled, produces a spirit far surpassing arrack or rum, making 

 admirable punch, and powerfully promoting urine. The nut 

 springs from one end of the apple, and contains, between it and 

 the kernel, an inflammable caustic oil, which will raise blisters 

 on the skin, and has been used with great success in eating 

 off ring-worms, cancerous ulcers, and corns ; but should be 

 cautiously employed. When fresh, the kernel has a most 

 delicious taste, abounding with a sweet milky juice. When it 

 is old, and ground with cocoa, it makes excellent chocolate. 

 The body of the tree, when tapped, produces a milky juice, 

 which will stain linen iiuMibly with black ; the thick oil of 

 the shell also tinges it of a rusty iron colour, which can hardly 

 be got out, and if rubbed over wood, will preserve it from 

 decaying, and might therefore prove an excellent preservative 

 to ho'use-timber and ship's bottoms. The tree yields annually 

 five, ten, or even twelve pounds weight of a fine semitranspa- 

 rent gum, .similar to gum-arabic, and not inferior in virtue or 

 quality, except that it has a slight astringency, which perhaps 

 renders it in some respects more valuable. The inside of the 

 fleshy receptacle, which is commonly called the cherry, is 

 stringy, but full of an austere acrid but pleasant juice, which 

 the Americans employ in making punch, as we do that of 

 lemons. When the West India ladies imagine their beauty 

 too much impaired by the scorching rays of the s;iu, they 

 scrape off the outside skin, and then rub their faces and 

 hands all over with the stone, which soon after swell and 

 grow black ; and in five or six days after the skin has been 

 thus poisoned, it comes off the face and other parts in larjre 

 Hakes. This operation prevents their appearance in public 

 for the full space of a fortnight ; at the end of which time 

 the new skin looks as fair as that of a young child. The 

 slaves and negroes in Brazil cure themselves of disorders in 



