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LOCUST-TREE. HYMENS A . 



Natural order, Lomentacea. A genus of the Decandria 

 Monogynia class. 



THE generic name is derived from Hymen, the god of 

 marriage. 



This is a very large spreading tree, in shape resem- 

 bling the beech. The flowers are produced in loose 

 spikes at the end of the branches, and are succeeded by 

 thick, fleshy, brown pods, shaped like those of the garden- 

 bean, about six inches long, and two and a half broad, 

 wherein there are three or four round, flat, blackish beans 

 or stones, bigger than those of the tamarind, enclosed in 

 a whitish substance of fine filaments, as sweet as sugar or 

 honey. The wild bees are fond of building their nests in 

 these trees : we may therefore justly conclude that St. John 

 found both the locust and wild honey on the same trees, 

 and that it was this fruit on which he fed, and not on 

 insects called locusts, as some authors have stated. 



The Indians eat this fruit with great avidity, though it 

 is apt to purge when fresh gathered, but loses that qua- 

 lity as it grows older. 



The juice, or decoction of the leaves, is carminative, 

 and eases the colic pain. The inward bark destroys 

 worms. Between the principal roots of the tree exudes 

 a fine transparent resin, which is collected in large lumps ; 

 it is called gum animi, and makes the finest varnish that is 

 known, superior even to the Chinese lacca. 



