282 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES MYALL 



Myall -wood, a name of the hard violet-scented wood of 

 Acacia Jiomaloijhyllcc, native of New South Wales. 



Myrobalans, a name given in India to the fruits of the 

 genus Terininalia, large trees of the Myrobalan family (Com- 

 bretaceae), common throughout India, Malay, Fiji, and other 

 islands of the Pacific. Their fruits are winged drupes containing 

 a hard stone. T. hellerica and T. chchulct are large trees, native 

 of the Circars and Pegu forests of India, having narrow lance-like 

 leaves growing in tufts at the top of the branches. Their wood 

 is white and is used for house-building. Their chief importance 

 is for their fruits, which are angular or slightly-winged drupes, 

 those of T. lellcrica being oval, pentagonal, the size of a nutmeg, 

 fleshy, and covered with a grey silky down containing a hard nut. 

 The fruit of T. chehula is oval, about an inch and a half long and 

 an inch in diameter, smooth, of pale greenish yellow, having a 

 considerable quantity of pulp ; the nut oblong, hard. Their 

 properties are highly astringent, and they are used for tanning 

 and dyeing black, for which purpose very large quantities are 

 annually imported. They make as good ink as oak galls. The 

 kernels of the nuts are eaten by the natives, and taste like 

 filberts, but in large quantities they produce intoxication. 

 T. catapiM is a tree similar to the preceding, but differs in having 

 broad elliptical leaves. The fruit, a drupe, is oval, oblong, com- 

 pressed, smooth, having the margins elevated, when rij^e of a 

 yellowish colour. The kernels are wholesome, and have the 

 flavour of almonds. In Fiji it is a favourite tree with the natives, 

 who call it Tavola, and plant it near their houses. 



Myrrh, a name applied to the plants of three very distinct 

 families. First, Garden j\Iyrrh (Jfijrrhis oclorata), a perennial 

 herb of the Carrot family (Umbelliferne), native of Britain, and 

 cultivated for its aromatic scent. Second, the ]\Iyrrh of the Bible, 

 which is the product of two distinct plants— 1. The Myrrh 

 carried by the Ishmeelites into Egypt, supposed by the best 

 authorities to be the exudation of several species of rock- 

 rose or gum Cishcs, shrubs of the Cistus family (Cistaceae), the 

 principal being C. villosus, C. crcticus, and C. salvifolius {see 



