552 OXALIDACE^— XANTHOXYLACE.E. App. C. 



leaves composed of from six to twelve pairs of opposite, usually entire, 

 smooth leaflets of an ovate-lanceolate shape ; and its flowers are small, 

 yellowish, and sweet-scented, and are disjxjsed in terminal drooping 

 panicles. Toon bark is powerfully astringent, but is said to be devoid of 

 bitterness. It is much esteemed in the treatment of intermittent fever, 

 though seldom administered alone, but generally prescribed in combination 

 with the excessively bitter seed of the Ouilandina Bonducella. The 

 flowers yield a yellow dye, but the colour is not peiTiianent. 



SoYMiDA FEBRiFUGA, A. de Juss. (= Swietenia fehrifugci, Eoxb.). 



The specific name of this tree indicates its use as a medicine in fevers. 

 The part employed is the bark, which is of a reddish colour and has a very 

 bitter, slightly astringent, but not unpleasant taste. It was long ago 

 highly recommended as a substitute for Peruvian bark by several English 

 doctors in India, and appears to possess considerable medicinal virtues, 

 though AinsUe found that when given in large doses it deranged the nervous 

 system, occasioned vertigo and subsequent stupor. The tree is called 

 " Shemmarum " by the Tamiils ; " Soimido " by the Telingas (whence the 

 generic name adopted by botanists) ; and " Eohuna " by the Bengalese. It 

 is a very large, hard-wooded tree, with abruptly pinnate leaves composed 

 of fi'om three to six pairs of opposite, oval-oblong blunt leaflets ; and pro- 

 duces large panicles of small yellowish flowers towards the points of 

 the young branches. 



The bark of another large Indian tree belonging to this order, the 

 "Chikrassee" of the Bengalese (ChicJcrassia talndaris, A. de Juss.), is 

 a powerfu.1 astringent, but, like the Toon bark, devoid of bitterness. 



OXALIDACE^. 



AVERRHOA BiLIMBI, Lhin. 



A syrup prepared Avith the juice of the excessively acid gherkin-like 

 fruits of the Bilimbi is used by the native doctors in the treatment of 

 fevers, as also is a conserve of the flowers. The Bilimbi is a small tree, 

 with unequally pinnate leaves, which, like those of the well-known sensitive 

 plant, are irritable and close their leaflets together when touched. Its 

 fruits are commonly used for pickhng by Europeans, both in the East and 

 in the West Indies. 



XANTHOXYLACE^. 



ToDDALiA ACULEATA, Pers. (:= Scoj^oUa acideata, Smith). 



Powerful stimulating properties are ascribed to all parts of this plant. 



The fresh bark of its root is administered by the Telinga physicians, who 



call the jilant " Conda cashinda," for the cure of the kind of remittent 



fever known by the name of " hill fever," from its beiag caught in the 



