716 



CASSUVIE^:. 



heavily, and they are frequently both heavy and 

 chilly, the birds also sit ; and when not sitting, they 

 watch their eggs with most maternal solicitude. Thus, 

 instead of the apparent abandonment of the eggs 

 in dry weather being any evidence on the part of the 

 birds, it is a proof of how very beautifully the 

 instincts of the bird are adapted to the circumstances 

 of its native place. For the bird to sit, during the 

 heat of the sun, upon the hot sand, would be in- 

 jurious, and it would be perfectly useless, as the heat 

 of the sun and sand alone is quite sufficient for the 

 purpose ; and were the bird to sit then, it would 

 hinder rather than promote the hatching of the eggs ; 

 but whenever circumstances render it necessary, the 

 bird is as true to her instinct as any other of the 

 children of nature ; and though she is in the desert, 

 she is as completely preserved and protected there 

 as the animal which dwells in the fullest pasture. 



The cassowary is found only in the south-eastern 

 parts of Asia, and nowhere without the tropics. The 

 Molucca islands, and Banda, Java, Sumatra, and 

 especially the forests of the southern part of the 

 island of Ceram, are their principal localities ; but 

 they are rare birds everywhere. Their food is chiefly 

 vegetable matter, but the succulent kinds, and not 

 those which are hard and dry. They are fierce and 

 powerful birds, striking severely with their bills, and 

 kicking with great power with their feet. They are 

 easily tamed, and will bear the climate of this 

 country without injury ; but they are objects of 

 curiosity, and not of use, as their flesh is black, 

 tough, dry, and tasteless. 



CASSUVIE^E, or ANACARDIACE^E (the 

 Cashew Family). A natural order of dicotyledonous 

 plants, containing thirteen genera and nearly one 

 hundred and twenty species, described by Jussieu 

 Decandolle, and some other botanists. This order, 

 as well as Spondiacece, Burseraceae, Amysidces, and Con- 

 naracece, are considered as divisions of TercbinihacecE. 

 All these orders bear strong affinities to each other, 

 but still they have essential characters sufficiently 

 well marked to induce Brown and Kunth to separate 

 them into distinct families. 



The Cashew tribe is thus characterised : flowers 

 generally unisexual ; calyx small and persistent, with 

 five or seven divisions ; petals equal in number to the 

 segments of the calyx, perigynous ; stamens usually 

 equal in number to the petals, and alternate with 

 them ; petals and stamens inserted upon the calyx or 

 calycine disk ; ovary single, one-celled, with one 

 ovule; styles one to- three; fruit indehiscent, most 

 commonly drupaceous ; seed without albumen ; cotyle- 

 dons thick, folded upon the radicle. 



The plants of this order are trees or shrubs, with 

 alternate, simple, or ternate leaves, and terminal or 

 axillary flowers, provided with bracteas. They grow 

 chiefly in the tropical regions of India, Africa, and 

 America. Some species inhabit the south of Europe, 

 and other countries without the limits of the tropics, 

 such as the northern parts of America. They are 

 propagated by cuttings, layers, and seeds. 



The Cassuviece abound in an oily resinous juice, 

 which occasionally possesses acrid j>nd poisonous 

 qualities, and which is applied to a variety of uses in 

 the arts. 



The order has been divided into two sections : 

 first, Anacardieae, including the genera Anacardium. 

 tfoligarna, Mangifera, Buchanania, Pisfackia, Conio- 

 eladia, &c., in which the cotyledons are thick and 



folded back upon the radicle ; and second, Sumachirteae, 

 including the genera Rhus, Schinus, and Duvana, 

 in which the cotyledons are leafy, and the radicles 

 bent back upon their line of union. 



The genus Anacardium may be considered as the 

 representative of the order Anacardium occidentale, 

 which furnishes the well-known Cashew or Acajou nut. 

 There are two varieties of the plant, one found in the 

 West, and another in the East Indies. It is an 

 elegant tree, bearing panicled corymbs of sweet- 

 smelling rose-coloured flowers, and an edible fruit of 

 a yellow or red colour. The fruit or apple lias a 

 somewhat acid flavour, and a considerable degree of 

 astringency, and its juice, when fermented, yields an 

 agreeable vinous liquor. The nut grows in a singular 

 manner, supported on the enlarged fleshy and pyriform 

 peduncle. The kernels form a delicious article of 

 food, and are used in the West Indies as a dessert. 



Cashew nut. 



When ground with cacao, they form excellent choco- 

 late ; and when roasted, they are mixed with Madeira 

 to improve its flavour. From the nuts an oily fluid 

 is procured, which turns black and thick by exposure 

 to the air, and is used in India to make varnishes. 

 The fumes which arise from the nuts, during the 

 process of roasting, are very acrid, and are apt to 

 produce inflammation. An aromatic substance is 

 procured from the tree, which was formerly used in 

 medicine. For a drawing of the tree, and a full 

 account of its properties, see article on ANACARDIUM. 

 Semicarpus Anacardium, or Cassuviztm, yields a nut, 

 the juice of which is used for marking table-linen and 

 articles of dress ; hence the tree has received the 

 name of the marking-nut tree. If linen is placed on 

 the nuts, and pricked through, an indelible stain is 

 produced in consequence of the exudation of the 

 juice from the nuts. The nuts of this plant, and the 

 berries of Holigarna longifo/ia, another plant of this 

 family, after being steeped for a long time in water, 

 furnish by expression a juice which, by a particular 

 mode of preparation, forms the varnish of Sylhct, in 

 Bengal. The wood of the plant is soft, and contains 

 acid juice. The fleshy receptacles, when roasted, 

 are edible, and have tho flavour of apples. The green 

 fruit, pounded into a pulp, makes good birdlime. When 



