APPENDIX. 507 



It grows four or five yards high, and one quarter thick : the wood is red and 

 fit for ornamental work. The decoction of its bark and leaves is good in 

 glandular affections, and for coldness of the feet. The steam of this plant is 

 good for toothache, &c. 



78. Olivillo, is found in Conception ; its greatest height is twelve yards, 

 and its girth is one. The leaf is like that of the olive, but it produces no 

 fruit. The timber is excellent and durable, and is used in mines ; and in 

 Coquimbo and Guasco, where it grows stunted and crooked, it is considered 

 as the best fuel for smelting metals. 



79- Olivo, Olive, grows well all over the country ; and is exactly that of 

 Europe. 



80. Palma, the Date Palm, is rare, and grows in Quillota ; and its nearly 

 tasteless fruit is without a stone. The most common and useful palm in Chile 

 is that of the small cocoa-nut: the nut resembles the large one in all but size, 

 and is used in confectionary. When the trunk is cut down, one end being 

 placed in the fire a delicious honey exudes from the other. The wood is 

 useless ; the stem is tall, straight, and large. This tree does not reach its 

 full growth in less than fifty years. 



81. Palmilla, is found in Conception; is pretty, about four yards high, 

 and useless. 



82. Palo Negro, grows in Conception ; it is a small shrub, the wood of 

 which is used for handles to axes and other tools. 



83. Palpal, is a low shrub of Conception, of whose uses we are ignorant. 



84. Palqui, a shrub with a large root ; the branches are about as thick as 

 a finger. The bark, steeped in water, is good both externally and internally 

 for cutaneous diseases. It is said to be unwholesome for cattle who browse 

 on it. (There are two varieties near Quintero ; one with purple flowers, which 

 grow in clusters about the size and shape of yellow jasmine, smells very 

 sweet during the night. The whole plant yields excellent ashes for the soap- 

 boiler.) 



85. Patagua, grows in the neighbourhood of Santiago, Rancagua, and 

 Conception. It is good for silk-worms. It loves moist situations : it grows 

 about ten yards high, and one and a half thick. The wood is useful for 

 building, for farm purposes, and for furniture. It has five or six coats of 

 bark, each of five lines thick : it is used for tanning. An infusion of it is 

 said to be serviceable in internal abscesses. 



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