30 



294. MURRAYA EXOTICA. A Chinese plant of the orange family. The fruit is suc- 



culent, and the white flowers are very fragrant. They are used in per- 

 fumery. 



295. MUSA CAVENDISHII. This is a valuable dwarf species of the banana from 



southern China. It bears a large truss of fine fruit, and is cultivated to 

 some extent in Florida, where it endures more cold than the West India 

 species and fruits more abundantly. 



296. MUSA ENSETE. This Abyssinian species forms large foliage of striking beauty. 



The food is dry and uneatable ; but the base of the flower stalk is eaten by 

 the natives. 



297. MUSA SAPIENTUM. The banana plant. This has been cultivated and used as 



food in tropical countries from very remote times, and furnishes enormous 

 quantities of nutritious food, and serves as a staple support to a large num- 

 ber of the human race. The expressed juice is in some countries made into 

 a fermented liquor and the young shoots eaten as a vegetable. 



298. MUSA TEXTILIS. This furnishes the fiber known as manilla hemp, and is cul- 



tivated in the Philippine Islands for this product. The finer kinds of the 

 fiber are woven into beautiful shawls and the coarser manufactured into 

 cordage for ships. The fiber is obtained from the leaf -stalks. 



299. MussvENDA FRONDOSA. This cinchonaceous plant is a native of Ceylon. The 



bark and leaves are esteemed as tonic and ferbrifuges in the Mauritius, 

 where they are known as wild cinchona. The leaves and flowers are also 

 used as expectorants, and the juice of the fruit and leaves is used as an eye- 

 wash. 



300. MYRISTICA MOSCHATA. The nutmeg tree. The seed of this plant is the nut- 



meg of commerce, and mace is the seed cover of the same. When the nuts 

 are gathered they are dried and the outer shell of the seed removed. The 

 mace is also dried 5 iii the sun and assumes a golden yellow color. The most 

 esteemed nutmegs come from Penang. At one time the nutmeg culture 

 was monopolized by the Dutch, who were in the habit of burning them 

 when the crop was too abundant, in order to keep up high prices. 



301. MYROSPERMUM PERUIFERUM. This plant yields the drug known as balsam of 



Peru, which is procured by making incisions in the bark, into which cotton 

 rags are thrust; a fire is then made round the tree to liquefy the balsam. 

 The balsam is collected by boiling the saturated rags in water. It is a thick, 

 treacly looking liquid, with fragrant aromatic smell and taste, and is not 

 used so much in. medicine as it formerly was. 



302. MYROSPE&UM TOLUIFERUM. A South American tree, also called Myroxylon, 



which yields the resinous drug called balsam of Tolu. This substance is 

 fragrant, having a warm, sweetish taste, and burns with an agreeable odor. 

 It is used in perfumery and in the manufacture of pastiles, also for flavor- 

 ing confectionery, as in Tolu lozenges. 



303. MYRTUS COMMUNIS The common myrtle. This plant is supposed to be a na- 



tive of western Asia, but now grows abundantly in Italy, Spain, and the 

 south of France. Among the ancients the myrtle was held sacred to Venus 

 and was a plant of considerable importance, wreaths of it being worn by 

 the victors of the Olympic games and other honored personages. Various 

 parts of the plant were used in medicine, in cookery, and by the Tuscans 

 in the preparation of myrtle wine, called myrtidanum. It is still used in 

 perfumery, and a highly perfumed distillation is made from the flowers. 

 The fruits are very aromatic and sweet, and are eaten fresh or dried and 

 used as a condiment. 



304. NANDINA DOMESTIC A. A shrub belonging to the family of berberries. It is a 



native of China and Japan, where it is extensively cultivated for its, fruits. 

 It is there known as Nandin. 



305. NAUCLEA GAMBIR. -A native of the Malayan Islands, which yields the Gambir, 



or Terra Japonica of commerce. This is prepared by boiling the leaves in 

 water until the decoction thickens, when it is poured into molds, where it 

 remains until it acquires the consistency of clay; it is then cut into cubes 

 and thoroughly dried. It is used as a masticatory in combination with the 

 areca nut and betel leaf, and also for tanning purposes. 



306. NECTANDRA LEUCANTHA. The greenheart, or bibiru tree of British Guiana* 



furnishing bibiru bark, which is used medicinally as a tonic and febrifuge, 

 its properties being due to the presence of an uncrystallizable alkaloid, 

 also found in the seeds. The seeds are also remarkable for containing 



