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CASHEW-NUT. ANACARDIUM. 



Natural order, Holoracea. A genus of the Polygamid 

 Monacia class. 



THE generic name is derived from two Greek words, 

 signifying, without a heart; because the fruit, instead of 

 having the seed enclosed, has the nut growing at the end. 



The cashew-tree is a native of the East Indies, and of 

 the Brazils, and other parts of America, where it grows to 

 the height of twenty feet or more, in favourable situa- 

 tions. Lunan gives the following account of it in his 

 Hortus Jamaicensis. The fruit is full of an acrid juice, 

 which is frequently used in the making of punch. To 

 the apex of the fruit, grows a nut of the size and shape 

 of a hare's kidney, but much larger at the end which is 

 next the fruit than at the other end. The shell is very 

 hard, and the kernel, which is esteemed the finest nut in 

 the world, is covered with a thin film. Between this 

 and the shell is lodged a thick, blackish, inflammable 

 liquor, of such a caustic nature in the fresh nut, that, if 

 the lips chance to touch it, blisters will immediately fol- 

 low. The fruit is said to be good in disorders of the sto- 

 mach ; for the juice of it cuts the thick tough humours, 

 which obstruct the free circulation of the blood, and thus 

 removes the complaint. This juice, expressed and fer- 

 mented, makes a fine rough wine, useful where the viscera 

 or solid system has been relaxed. Barham, who has writ- 

 ten on this fruit, says, " the stone of this apple appears 



