PRIDE OF CHINA. 125 
e Melia azedarach, a specimen of Epidendrum magnolise, where it had been 
anted the spring before. What was remarkable, it had continued to flower all 
e winter on the azedarach, while in the woods no flowers were to be found ! 
Properties and Uses. The wood of the azedarach is of a reddish colour, and 
organized in the distribution of its fibres similar to those of the ash. It is suffi- 
mtly strong and durable to be employed in civil architecture, and is adapted 
various uses in the mechanic arts. It has already been employed for pulleys, 
liich in Europe are usually made of elm, and in America of ash. It is said 
make good fuel. The fleshy part of the fruit, like that of the olive, yields a 
zed oil, which is bitter, and is considered as anthelmintic, and a narcotic stim- 
ant. The leaves are universally used in India for poultices, and both the 
>wers and seeds are stimulant. The berries, though said by the Arabian phy- 
jian, Avicenna, to be poisonous, and the pulp of which was mixed with grease, 
r the purpose of killing rats and dogs, are often eaten by children in the south, 
ithout injurious effects. According to Mr. Royle, however, the fruit is consid- 
ed as poisonous when used in large doses. The bark of the root, when green, 
is a bitter, nauseous taste, yielding its virtues to boiling water, and may be 
iployed as a cathartic or emetic, and is considered as an efficient vermifuge, 
id also may be used with advantage in intermittents. In Persia, an ointment 
made, for the cure of some cutaneous eruptions, by mulling the leaves with 
rd. It is also said that a kind of toddy is obtained by fermenting the sap of 
mng and vigorous trees. The nuts are often bored, as before stated, by monks, 
id strung into beads. Hence the names of Bead-tree, and Paternostri di San 
omenico. 
