73 



^ or 10 feet high. The heart- wood is imported for CASE 

 ■dyeing a deep red colour. 37. 



On the upper shelf of the next compartment note pods, 

 seeds, and wood of Frigolito {Sopliora secundifiora^ 

 Lag.), of New Mexico. The seeds contain an exceedingly- 

 poisonous .alkaloid, known as Sophoria, and the Indians 

 in the neighbourhood of San Antonio use them as an 

 intoxicant, half a bean producing exhilaration, followed 

 by sleep lasting two or three days, and a whole bean being 

 sufficient to kill a man. 



Note also section of the wood of Sophora japonica, L., 

 a well-known ornamental tree of China. Also Wai-fa, 

 flower buds of the same species, used by the Chinese for 

 dyeing yellow, or rather for rendering blue cottons and 

 silks green. 



On a lower shelf observe pods of the MORETON BAY 

 Chestnut or Bean Tree (Castanospermu?n australe^ 

 A. Cunn.). The seeds are steeped in w^ater for Several 

 days, dried and roasted, then ground into a coarse meal, 

 which is made into cakes and used as food by the 

 aborigines. The wood has been recommended for 

 cabinet work. 



Note also the bright red seeds, with a black blotch, of 

 several species of Ormosia, 



No. 209. Balsam op Tolu, furnished by Myroxylon CASE 

 Tolidfera^ H.B. and K. The tree, which grows to a height 38« 

 of 80 feet, is often unbranched for a distance of 40 to 60 

 feet from the ground. It is a native of Venezuela and 

 Colombia, where the balsam is collected by making 

 V-shaped incisions through the bark to the wood of the 

 growing tree, and inserting cups made of calabashes, as ' 

 shown in the specimen exhibited. The balsam is finally 

 put into cjdindrical tins for exportation to Europe. 

 Balsam of Tolu is used in medicine as an expectorant 

 and stimulant. Tolu lozenges are well known as a 

 remedy for allaying coughs. 



No. 210. Balsam of Peru, yielded by Myroxylon 

 Pereirae, Klotzsch, a spreading tree about 50 feet high, 

 found in woods on the Sonsonate Coast, San Salvador, 

 Central America. To collect the balsam the bark is 

 beaten and removed, heat is then applied with a torch to 



