376 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



Burtonia. If the branches or foliage of certain Tep/trosias {T. toxi- 

 caria, piscatoria, Vogelii? &c.) are thrown into water-courses, they 

 poison the fish, acting on them, it is said, like Foxglove. 2 The 

 application of the leaves of several Leguminosc? will cure sluggish 

 ulcers and chronic phlegmasia?, owing probably to their counter- 

 irritant effect. The same is the case with many roots, such as the 

 Brooms, Beans, Kidney-vetch (Fr., Vulneraire), Eest-harrow, and 

 certain species of Tephrosia. The root of Clitoria Ternatea is used as 

 an evacuant in India. That of Phaseolus radiatus, P. midiiflorus, &c, 

 has in several cases proved poisonous. The decoction of the roots of 

 several Indigo/eras is a good vermifuge, and cures aphtha? and obsti- 

 nate ulcers. The root-bark of Piscidia Eri/thrina* is used in fishing 

 in the Antilles, like Tephrosia elsewhere. In Andirc? and Gcoffraa 6 

 are drastic purgatives, emetics, and vermifuges, useful in medicine, 

 but in large doses poisons of unmistakeable strength. 



Another leading property in PapUionacea is astringency, which is 

 nothing remarkable, considering that most of the species are rich in 

 tannin. 7 Several of the kinos and catechus of commerce are furnished 

 by Dalbergiea, notably Hecastaphyllum monetarium, and above all by 

 the various species Pterocarpus. P. Draco, Marsupium, santalinm, 

 erinaceus, &c, produce kinos and gum-dragon or dragon's-blood. 8 

 Ghim-Butea, a reddish substance of astringent tonic virtues, and 

 mainly used in preparing hides, is yielded by Butea frondosa and 

 superba in India. 9 Gum lac is also found on these Buteas, where its 

 formation is determined by the presence of certain insects of the 

 group Coccidce. It is perhaps the astringency of Euchresta Jlors/ieldii 10 



1 See H. Bn., in Adansonia, vi. 225. G, ii. 137 ; iii. 345), it is Pterocarpus Indian 



5 Lindi., op. cit., 549. which yields dragon's blood in Asia, and P. Draco 



3 Especially the genus Indigo/era. or P. gummifer in America, chiefly in the Antilles, 



See p. 326, note 3. but this dragon's blood is rare in commerce. The 



5 See H. By., in Diet. Encycl. des Sc. Med., same author (op. cit., iii. 425) mentions among 

 iv. 310, 688. the kinos the astringent juice of the African species 



6 See Guib., Drog. Simpl., ed. 6, iii. 331. P. erinaceus. Muubay appears to have been the 

 ' Tk£cul., Du tannin dans les Legwmhneates first author to refer the origin of the astringent 



(in Compt. Rend. Acad. Sc, lx. 225 ; in Adan- gum of Gamlia to this same species of Ptero- 



sonia, vii. 113; in Ann. Sc. Nat., ser. 5, iv.378). carpus. According to Roxburgh and Royle 



In these memoirs it is shown that certain Legu- P. Marsupium furnishes great part of the kino 



minosce possess tannin-cells, while others lack of India. 



them. In the former the cells exist only in the 9 See H. Bx., in Diet. Encycl. des Sc. Med., 



bark or the circumference of the pith, or in both xi. 334. 



bark and pith. In certain species tannin occurs 10 Bekn., PL Javan. Bar., 148, t. 31.— 



even in the cells of the epidermis and the collen- Andira ? Horsfieldii \.r:<cu., in Ann. Mus., xvi. 



chyma. 481> t# 12 . (See p. 323, note 6.) 

 8 According to Guiboubt (Drog. Simpl., ed. 



