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hemispheres, often stituting vast Forests, in tin 



which in :ill hot countries have general!) verj thick nun.-, with 

 boughs, and a prodigious crown. Travellers say, that tl" 

 aiiicni; die must grateful presents of Nature to in>t countries : il 

 I'hi Hi head refreshing the traveller when hi i ■ | ses under their incredibly wid 

 ing branches and dark green Bhining t"« »1 i:» l^« - . In India, two of tin 

 rical celebrity. Ofthi e the Banyan-fa tnarkable for its vast rooting brand 



Ficus indica ; the Pippul or sacred Fig of the same country, readilj known I 

 rootless branches, and it- hearl Bhaped leaves with long attenuated | I 



religioea. Blume also relates, that a Ficus microcarpa, which he planted ' 

 door of l»i— house in -lava, had in Beven yi ars covered a space of abovi 

 with it- dense Bhade. And he describe - a sacred -p. cimen of enormous Btatun . g 

 in the Bame island, at a place called Batu-Tulies, from whose huge branches hi 

 as manj as ■■! species of parasites and epiphytes, which were not, however, half what 

 might have been collected. The genus Ficus, indeed, is one "I those which travi 

 describe as most conducing to the peculiarities ofa tropical scene. Mr. Kindt 

 //. \\ . 100) points out the complex appearance ol the main Btem of mam specii - ; their 

 immense horizontal branches, their proportionate lowness, and the vast number of smaller 

 Btems in i »e of development, some just protruding from the horizontal limbs, 



others hanging midway between the leafy canopy and earth, displaying on each thick 

 rounded extremity an enormous spongiole, while many reach the Boil, and having 

 attained strength and Bize act as columns to sustain the whole structure. " The tropi- 

 cal forest abounds with these in r\n-y varii tj of growth and apparent distortion." 



Caoutchouc is furnished by many of this Order in great abundance; all th>- India 

 Rubber of continental India is obtained from Ficus elastica ; in Java, other species 

 yield t lii~ substance of excellent quality, as do F. Radula, elhptica, and prinoii 

 America. Their milky fluid is in some instances Maud, and actually employed as a 

 beverage ; for of the different plants which have be< n occasionally brought t" Europe 

 under the name of Cow trees, most are Figs. One of these has been figured bj M. !>• 

 CandoDe, under the name of Ficus Saussureana, (M em. d* laSoc. PI ; and 



others have been described by M. Desvaux, Ann. Sc. 18.309. The juice is, howe^ 

 inan_\ cases excessively acrid ; that of Ficus septica is emetic, and of F. toxicaria and 

 Deemona, a virulent poison ; indeed the milky juice of the cultivated Fig itself p b» 

 considerable acridity, causing a burning sensation in the throat when chewed. In 

 species the juice assumes a resinous character, when discharged from parts atta 



li\ Cocci, as i- the case with F. indica, benghaleu- 



and I - ■ la, which form a sort of gum 

 th. East Indies. Notwithstanding the pn ■ 

 of an acrid Becretion, the fruit of man} sp 

 pears t" decompose it and convert it inl 

 or Borne other substance : hence we ha> 

 able Fig of the shops from the acrid Fieus I 

 and a fruit id' inferior quality, but -til' 

 from F. religiosa, Benjamina, pumila, am 

 lata, Rumphii, benghalensis, aspera, Granatum, 

 and tin- Egyptian Sycomorus, whos< 

 ishable wood is Bald to have I'M used in the 

 construction of the cases in which tin- mummies i 

 On the other hand tin- common Mulberry, Morus i 

 an agreeable sub-acid succulent fruit, for the sake "t which 

 it was long since introduced from Persia : and that •■! the 

 White Mulberry .anil other specii -. both Asiatic and Ai 

 ib eatable though not esteemed ; but these fruit* 

 tirely harmless, causing diarrhoaa if indulged in t 

 their roots arc both cathartic and anthelmii 

 ing the presence in their -\-t> in of the acrid 

 Oraer. There i- also a Brazilian Ficus antheli 

 Mull., rries contain mannite and succinic 

 chemists. Among other uses of less 

 tlic following: Dorstn nia contrayerva,l r 

 others, bav< bitterish roots, and a i 

 odour, with a little pungency. 

 dote- t.> tl.- bites ot venomous anil 

 stimulant, sudorific, and tonic qualities ; tut • hem b) 



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