136 DICTIONAEY OF POPULAE NAMES COTTON 



Generally found cultivated in gardens, attaining the height 

 of 6 or 8 feet; it has numerous hoary, stiff branches, each 

 terminated by a thistle head of pink flowers ; the whole having 

 the appearance of a magnificent candelabrum. 



Cotton-wood, a common name for Fopuhis moiiilifera. (See 

 Poplar.) 



Coumarin, an odoriferous principle common to the Tonquin 

 Bean (Dipteryx odorata), Faham Tea of the Mauritius (Angrcecum 

 fragrans), Sweet Woodruff {Asperida odorata), Melilot {Melilotus 

 officinalis), Swiss Melilot {Melilotus cxridea), and the sweet- 

 smelling Vernal Grass {Antlioocanthum odoratum). This last is 

 a common grass in hay-fields, and it imparts the sweet odour to 

 newly-made hay ; and it is probable that hay fever, as it is 

 called, to which many people are liable during the hay harvest, 

 may be attributed to the Coumarin in the atmosphere. Hay 

 fever is also thought to be due to the amount of pollen floating in 

 the air during the flowering season of the corn and grass crops. 

 Besides the above-mentioned sources of Coumarin, it is also found 

 ill Uupatorium aromaticum and JE. gluthiosum, perennial herbs of 

 the Composite family (Compositae), natives of North America. 



Courbaril Tree (Hymcncea Oourharil), a large tree of the 

 Bean family (Leguminosee), with simple bilobed leaves, native 

 of the West Indies and tropical America, where it attains a 

 large size, the diameter of the true stem being 6 to 9 feet, sur- 

 rounded by buttresses, measuring round the base above 80 feet 

 in circumference; some trees are supposed to be more than 

 1000 years old. The pods are thick, flat, 3 to 4 inches in 

 length, and 2 inches broad. They contain a few bean-like seeds 

 embedded in pulp, which becomes mealy as the pod ripens, and 

 is eaten by the natives. It early received the name of the West 

 Indian Locust Tree. It yields a kind of copal gum, wliich is 

 found in lumps under the roots of the tree. (See Copal.) 



Cow Parsley, a name given to the different species of the 

 genus CJia^ro2JhyUu7n, perennial herbs of the Carrot family 

 (Umbelliferse). C. sylvestre is a native of this country, and known 

 by the name of Wild Chervil. The most important of the 



