550 



FABACEtE. 



[Perigynous Exogens. 



Carat weights of the jewellers. A similar fruit is borne by Gleditschia triacantha, 

 called in North America the Honey Locust. In the pods of Hymeiuea Courbaril, the 



Fig. CCCLXXIII. 



West Indian Locust-tree, there is a mealy substance in which the seeds are embedded, 

 sweet and pleasant, but apt to purge when recently gathered ; it loses this property as 

 it becomes old. A decoction of the pulp, allowed to ferment, forms an intoxicating 

 drink resembling beer. The succulent drupes of Detarium microcarpum are said to be 

 agreeable to the palate of the Negroes. Some are reported to produce powerfully bitter 

 and tonic effects. The bark and seeds of Guilandina Bonduc are of this class ; the 

 latter are very bitter ; when pounded small and mixed with castor oil, they form a 

 valuable external application in incipient hydrocele ; the leaves are a. valuable discu- 

 tient, fried with a little castor oil, in cases of hernia humoralis. Bowdiolna major, the 

 roots' of Poinciana pulcherrima, the wood of Cajsalpinia echinata in powder, are other 

 instances of tonic qualities among these plants ; and in the Dividivi or Libidibi pods, 

 which are produced by Csesalpinia coriaria,we have one of the most astringent of known 

 substances. The native practitioners in India prescribe the dried buds and young 

 flowers of Bauhinia tomentosa in certain dysenteric affections. The bark of Bauhima 

 variegata, and also of Cassia auriculata, are, according to Roxburgh, used by the natives 

 in tanning and dyeing leather, as well as in medicine. The leaves of Caulotretus micro- 

 stachyus and various Bauhinias are used in Brazil under the name of Unha de Boy, 

 or Oxhoof, as mucilaginous remedies. Panococco-bark, obtained from Swartzia tomen- 

 tosa, is a powerful sudorific ; its wood is very hard and intensely bitter. The roots of 

 Ctesalpinia Nuga and Moringa are diuretic. Among dyes are Logwood, the wood ot 

 Hamiatoxylon campeachianum, and the red dye yielded by several Csesalpmias, espe- 

 cially C. echinata, which yields the Brazil-wood, or Pernambuco-wood of commerce. 

 The^Bukkum or Sappan-wood of India belongs to Ctesalpinia Sappan. Camwood or 

 Barwood belongs to Baphia nitida ; it yields a brilliant red colour, but it is not? perma- 

 nent • the dark-red seen in the English Bandana handkerchiefs is produced by it, 

 rendered deeper by sulphate of iron. Melanoxylon Braiina, a large Brazilian tree, has 

 a remarkable reddish-brown colouring matter in both its wood and bark. Several 

 afford timber The Brazil-wood of commerce is obtained from Csesalpinia Brasihensis. 

 The timber of Hymentea Courbaril, the West-Indian Locust-tree, is close-grained and 

 toudi • it is in request in England for tree-nails in planking vessels, and for the beams 

 amfplanks of steam-engines. Epcrua falcata is the Wallaba-tree of Guiana, accordmg 

 to Sir R Schomburgk, who informs us that its wood is deep red, frequently variegated 

 with whitish streaks, hard, heavy, shining, and impregnated with an oily resin, winch 

 makes it verv durable. The bark is bitter, and is used by the Arawaak Indians as an 

 emetic The Purple Heart, a Guiana timber tree of great toughness, whose timber if 

 found invaluable for resisting the shock of artillery discharges, on which account it is 

 employed for mortar beds, is the Copaifera pubiflora and bracteata. The balsam is said 

 to gush out of the heart of these trees in large quantities when wounded 



The size of the timber is sometimes prodigious. The Locust-trees of the W est have 



Fig. CCCLXXIII. — Cassia acutifolia. 1. a flower somewhat magnified. 



i 



