l-j.j NATUIiAL mSTOUY OF PLANTS. 



iJillrniaccfe known is in all about two hundred species. Their uses 

 are but lew. ^lost are rich in tannin, and strike an intense black 

 in contact with iron. Tliis is very marked in Schirmachcria, which 

 niii^lit be used in dyeing; it is also found, though in a less degree, 

 in Tetmcera, Davilla, Ciiraidla, &e. Hence it is not strange that 

 CuratcUa nmericana and C. caimhalilha} should be successfully used in 

 tannini^ hides, and that astringent lotions are made from their bark 

 in Jirazil. The decoction of the leaves is used as a topical appli- 

 cation to wounds. Davilla is used for similar purposes ; thus 

 I). clUplica, the CaimhaiUnlia of the province of Minas-Novas, serves 

 to prepare a vulnerary of the same name, much prized by the 

 Brazilians.- B. rngosa is their Cijjo de Cahocio, or de Carijo, of which a 

 decoction is made, which cures swelling of the legs, thighs, &c., 

 affections very common in the warm regions of South America. It 

 is probably also an astringent action that is exerted by Colbertia 

 ohovata Bii. (which is a Dillenia), when the juice is mixed with 

 water and used to w:ash the head to arrest baldness. Eheede relates 

 that the acidulous juice of the fruit of B. speciosa mixed -with syrup 

 is a remedy for coughs. Tefracera Rhcedii, infused in rice-water, is 

 much used in Malabar as a gargle for aphthse. A decoction of 71 

 Tifjarea is prescribed in Cayenne, under the name of " Liane Bouge" 

 (Angl. Red Liana), 2i^ an antisyphilitic.^ T. Breijniana and oblongata 

 have the same properties as Davilla rugosa, and fumigations of these 

 plants are used in swellings of certain organs. The juice of Telracera 

 alnifolia serves, it is said, as a beverage in Africa. Dillenia ^cabrella 

 and speciosa are used for domestic purposes in Malabar. The thick- 

 ened calyxes, gorged with an acidulous juice, are preserved, and enter 

 into the preparation of acid beverages and stews, almost like the 

 lemon in Europe. With the ley of the leaves plate is cleaned. The 

 Tetraceras have often rugose leaves ; those of T. sarmentosa are used 

 in tlie Indo-Chinese Peninsula to polish wood, and tin vessels. 

 Cnratella americana possesses this property in a higher degree, owing 

 to the siliceous concretions found abundantly in its leaves.^ The 



' A. S. II., rius. Us. Bra.sil., t.wiv. — Netto, CaimlaMba is preferable as a popular name, it 



//. Bol., 16. seems to me; for it gives perfectly the idea of 



2 A. S. II., ri. Us. Bra.iil., t. xxxiii. the most remarkable property of this vegetable. 



■' AVBLKT, Guian., il. 921, t. 351. In fact, CalmhaJdha means in the aboriginal lan- 



'' According to Netto (Joe. cit.) this tree is guage ' Shagreen (or glass paper) Tree,' ' Plan- 

 called Cajveiro hravo in the c^inipos of North ing Tree,' ' Prickly Tree,' &c., which tallies 

 lirazil. " But," says this author, " the name of with the use the natives formerly made and still 



