402 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



raised from the seed of the mango is also very great ; 

 and of these, while some possess the highest excel- 

 lence, there are others in which the flesh of the fruit 

 is so fibrous and ill flavoured, as to resemble, as is 

 commonly said, nothing so much as a mixture of 

 1 tow and turpentine.' " 



THE MANGOSTAN Garcinia mangostana. 



The Mangostan, or Mangustin, is one of the most 

 delicious fruits that grows ; and the tree (Garcinia 

 mangostana) on which it is produced, is one of the 

 most graceful and beautiful anywhere to be met with. 

 It is a native of Sumatra, and also of the Molucca, or 

 Spice islands, from which it has been transplanted to 

 Java, and some other parts of the eastern Archi- 

 pelago. The stem, which is of a variegated brownish- 

 red colour, rises to the height of about twenty feet ; 

 the branches come out in regular order, and give the 

 head of the tree the form of a parabola ; and the 

 leaves are entire, about eight inches long, and four 

 broad at the middle, of a beautiful green on the upper 

 side, and a fine olive on the under. The flower 

 resembles that of a single rose, with some dark red 

 petals. The fruit is round, about the size of an ordi 



