460 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



is said to be successfully exhibited as a succedaneum of cin- 



chona. 1 



A large formation of sugar is remarked in but few Lauracece. It 

 occurs, however, in the leaves of the true Ceylon Cinnamon-tree, 2 

 and, above all, in the pericarp of the Avocado {Per sea gratissima ; 

 Fr., Avocatier). 3 The fruit of this tree, known as the Avocado- or 

 Alligator-pear, 4 is one of the best known in the tropics, though 

 somewhat sickly to a European palate. It is a pear-shaped berry, 

 at first green, later more or less violet or brownish, wherein is found 

 a large globular seed with fleshy hemispherical cotyledons. The 

 pulp, seasoned in various ways, is sometimes termed vegetable butter 

 (Fr., beurre vegetal) or subalterns butter. Its taste is compared to 

 the artichoke and the hazel nut. It is used as food and as 

 medicine; 5 and the buds leaves and seeds also serve the latter pur- 

 pose in the Antilles. 6 The pericarp is very rich in fatty matter — a 

 greenish oil, as in the common Bay. In the fruit of Tetranthera 

 laurifolia 1 this becomes a true wax, used for making tapers. 



There is but one Laurad used on account of its colouring matter : 

 Ocotea tinctorea. 8 



The wood of many Laurads is very good and handsome, with a 

 fine close grain, often shining, through the presence of numerous 

 little dents, more rarely dark coloured as in Nectandra cgmbaritm 9 

 and Rodiei™ and Silvia naval i//u/ Allem." These woods are dense, 

 resisting the action of water, and used in ship-building. Many 

 others of lower density but greater elasticity, pale tawny in colour, 

 with a silky gleam, are prized by the cabinet-maker. Boxes and 



1 Rodie, in &u!an. Roy. Gaz. (8 Aug., 1844). t. 222. — Laurus Persea L., Spec, ed. 2, 

 — Guib., Drog. Simp., ed. 6, ii. 395. — Peueiea, 529. 



Elem. Mat. Med., ed. 4, ii. p. i. 465. — Maet., 4 Aguacute or Palto, Aouara, Pear of New 



Fl. Bras., Laurac., 319. The bark contains the Spain, Avocato of the Brazilians, 



alkaloid bebeerin (C 19 H 21 N0 3 ), whose sulphate is 5 Employed by the negroes of the Antilles in 



said to act as an antiperiodic, though less the treatment of all the disorders of women. 



strongly than the sulphate of quinine. 6 The leaves as a pectoral vulnerary and sto- 



2 The sweet taste of its leaves affords a ready machic ; the buds as a remedy for bruises and 

 mode of distinguishing it in cultivation from its syphilis; the juice of the seed as an astringent, 

 very similar allies. This last, rich in tannin, affords an indelible ink, 



3 G^ETN., Fiuct., iii. 222.— Nees, Sgst., 128. which turns brown in the air (used for marking 

 — Meissn., Prodr., 52, n. 36. — GoiB., op. cit., clothes, &c). All animals prize the fruit for food, 

 ii. 399.— Lindl., Fl. Med., 333.— Maet., Fl. 1 See p. 459, note 6. 



Bras., Laurac., 320. — H. Bn., in Diet. E>ici/cl. 8 Nees, ex Rosenth., op. cit., 235. 



des Sc. Medic, vii. 520. — Persea Cltts., Hist., 9 See p. 45S, note 12. 



i. 2. — Plum., Amer., 44, t. 20.— P. pracox 10 See p. 459, notes 13, 14. Maet., Fl. Bras., 



P(EPP. — P. Schiedeana Nees. — Prunifera arbor Laurac, 315. 



fructu maxima piriformi Sloan., Jam., ii. 132, " See p. 468, note 4. 



