370 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



its fine figure greatly adorns the scenery of the 

 country." Its refreshing properties has given it a 

 place in our poetry: 



" The damsel from the tamarind-tree 

 Had pluck'd its acid fruit, 

 And steep'd it in water long ; 

 And whoso drank of the cooling draught, 

 He would not wish for wine."* 



Mandelslo, an old traveller, says, that as soon as the 

 sun is set the leaves of the tamarind close up the 

 fruit to preserve it from the dew, and open as soon 

 as that luminary appears again : 



" 'Tis the cool evening hour : 

 The tamarind, from the dew 

 Sheaths its young fruit, yet green. "t 



The East India tamarinds are preserved without 

 sugar, and therefore they are the best for medicinal 

 use. About forty tons of tamarinds are annually im- 

 ported into Great Britain. 



THE GUAVA Psidium pyriferum. 



The botanists enumerate eight or nine species of 

 the guava, some of them natives of the East Indies, 

 and other parts of Asia; some of the West Indies; 



* Thalaba, t Ibid. 



