150 BOTANY OF INDIA. 



tanks, intoxicates the fish, and in the hot season destroj's 

 them ; but in the cold season they are said to recover. 



One of the most elegant among Indian trees is Nauclea 

 orientalis. The flowers are capitate, and deck the charm- 

 indy-verdant foliage with, as it were, thousands of little 

 globes of golden flowers. They have an odour very agree- 

 able in the open air, which Sir William Jones says the an- 

 cient Indians compared to the scent of new wine ; and hence 

 they call the plant Halipnya, or beloved by Halim, that is, 

 by the third Rama, who was evidently the Bacchus of India.* 

 The leaves of Canthittvi parviflm-vm, a common scraggy 

 thorny bush, are miiversally eaten in curries. 



LORANTHEa^. 



Eleven species of that most remarkable genus mistletoe 

 (Viscum) are in the East India Company's collection ; and 

 it is a circumstance deserving of notice, that, according to 

 Sir William Jones, the Viscum of the oak (he does not 

 specify any species) is named vaiida, the vandaca or oak 

 being held sacred. t It has always been our opinion that 

 the British mistletoe was not held sacred by the druids, ex- 

 cept when it was found growing upon the oak ; and hence 

 the association between the mistletoe and the oak. Perhaps 

 the fact that it was hardly ever discovered in this situation 

 gave rise to the superstition ; for it is certain that it is an 

 exceedingly rare event in this country to fmd it growing 

 upon the oak, even in districts where it is a nuisance upon 

 apple, thorn, and other trees. 



APOCYNE^. 



Strychnos potatorum will be known to some of our 

 readers as the clearing-nut of India. It is rather a scarce, 

 moderate-sized tree, growing mostly in mountainous dis- 

 tricts, and producing a shining black berry about the size 

 of a black currant. The peculiar purpose to which they 

 are applied is thus described by Dr. Roxburgh: — "The 

 ripe seeds are dried, and sold in every market to clear 

 muddy water. The natives never drink clear well-water if 

 they can get pond or river-water, which is always more or 

 ess impure according to circumstances. One of the seeds, 



* Asiatic Researches, vol. iv. I Ibid. 



