ANA 



ANA 



ANABASIS, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentandria Digynia class and order : es- 

 sen. char. ; calyx, three-leaved ; cor. five- 

 petalled ; berry, one-seeded, surrounded 

 by a calyx : there are four species. 



ANACARDIUM, in botany, acajou, a 

 genus of the EnneandriaMonogynia class 

 and order; its characters are, that it has 

 hermaphrodite flowers, and male flowers, 

 either mixed with the hermaphrodites, or 

 on a distinct tree. The calyx of the 

 former is a perianthium, five-leaved, leaf- 

 lets ovate, concave, coloured, erect, and 

 deciduous; the corolla has five petals, 

 lanceolate, acute, three times as long as 

 thejcalyx, upright at bottom, reflex at the 

 end; the stamina have ten filaments, 

 united at the base and upright, nine of 

 them capillary, shorter than the calyx ; 

 the pistillum has a germ, kidney-shaped, 

 obliquely emarginate in front, .style subu- 

 late, bent in, the length of the corolla; 

 stigma small, roundish, depressed and 

 concave ; no pericarpium ; receptacle 

 fleshy, very large and obovate ; the seed 

 a nut, kidney-shaped, large at the top of 

 the receptacle, with a thick shell, cellular 

 within, and abounding in oil. The calyx, 

 corolla, and stamina, of the male flowers, 

 as in the hermaphrodites ; the pistillum 

 has either no germ, or one that is abor- 

 tive. There is one species, viz. A. occi- 

 clentale, cashew -nut, cassu or acajou. 

 The cashew is an elegant tree, 12 or 16 

 feet high, spreading much as it rises, and 

 beginning to branch at the. height of five 

 feet, according to Browne ; but Long af- 

 firms that in good soil it spreads to the 

 size of a walnut tree, which it resembles 

 in the shape and smell of the leaves ; 

 the trunk seldom exceeds half a foot in 

 diameter ; the leaves are coriaceous, sub- 

 ovate, shining, entire, petioled, and scat- 

 tered alternately, and terminating, con- 

 taining many small, sweet-smelling flow- 

 ers, on oblong receptacles, scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable from the peduncle ; the co- 

 rolla red, with commonly 10 stamens, one 

 of which has no anther, but it has fre- 

 quently eight, or only seven, all fertile ; 

 and there are sometimes female flowers, 

 entirely destitute of stamens. The fruit 

 has an agreeable subacid flavour, in some 

 degree restringent ; in some of a yellow, 

 and in others of a red colour, which dif- 

 ference may be probably owing to the 

 soil or culture. The juice of the fruit, fer- 

 mented, affords a pleasant wine ; and 

 distilled, yields a spirit exceeding arrack 

 r rum, and serves to make punch, and 

 also to promote urine. The ripe fruit is 

 sometimes roasted and sliced, and thus 



used for giving an agreeable flavour to 

 punch. The restringency of the juice 

 has recommended it as a remedy in drop- 

 sical habits. From one end of the apple 

 proceeds the nut, which is kidney-shap- 

 ed, enclosed in two shells, the outer of 

 an ash colour, and smooth, and the inner 

 covers the kernel. Between these shells 

 is lodged a thick, inflammable, and very 

 caustic oil, which, incautiously applied to 

 the lips and mouth,inflames and excoriates 

 them. This oil has been successfully 

 used for eating off ring-worms, cancerous 

 ulcers, and corns ; but it should be very 

 cautiously applied. Some females have 

 used it as a cosmetic, in order to remove 

 the freckles and tan occasioned by the 

 scorching rays of the sun, but it proves 

 so corrosive as to peel off the'skin, and 

 cause the face to inflame and swell; but 

 after enduring the pain of this operation 

 for about a fortnight, thin new skin, as 

 it may be called, appears, fair-like that of 

 a new born infant. This oil also tinges 

 linen of a rusty iron colour, that can 

 hardly be got out ; and when smeared on 

 wood it prevents decay, and might, 

 therefore, serve for preserving house tim- 

 ber and ships' bottoms. The fresh ker- 

 nel has a delicious taste, and abounds 

 with a sweet milky juice ; it is an ingre- 

 dient in puddings, &c. and is eaten raw, 

 roasted and pickled. The negroes of 

 Brazil, who are compelled by their mas- 

 ters, the Portuguese, to eat this nut, for 

 want of other sustenance, obtain relief 

 from this involuntary use of it in various 

 disorders of the stomach. When the 

 kernel is ground with cacao, it improves 

 the chocolate ; but if it be kept too long 

 it becomes shrivelled, and loses its flavour 

 and best qualities. The milky juice of 

 the tree, obtained by tapping or incision, 

 will stain linen of a deep black, which 

 cannot be washed out; but whether this 

 has the same property with that of the 

 eastern anacardium, has not yet been as- 

 certained ; for the inspissated juice of 

 that tree is the best sort of lack which is 

 used for staining black in China or Japan. 



ANACHRONISM, in matters of litera- 

 ture, an error with respect to chronology, 

 whereby an^event is placed earlier than it 

 really happened, in which sense it stands 

 opposite to parachronism. 



ANACREONTIC verse, in ancient poe- 

 try, a kind of verse so called from its 

 being much used by the poet Anacreon. 

 It consists of three feet and a half, usually 

 sporidees and iambics, and sometimes 

 anapests ; such is that of Horace, 



