THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 99 



UD determined by variety. Balfour says that the fleshy peduncle is 

 pea-shaped ; he evidently means pear-shaped. The juice is described by 

 him as veri/ acrid, and highly recommended in dropsical habits. As 

 observed before, ideas differ with regard to the acrid nature or other- 

 wise of the juice of the fully-developed fleshy peduncle. Some use 

 the so-called fruit without much suffering ; others find it irritating and 

 will not use it. Nairne observes that " though tempting to the eye, it is 

 excruciating to the palate, though Oliver calls it edible."' " The flavour,^' 

 says Baillon, ^' is sourish or more or less acrid and astringent. Conserves 

 are made from it, and particularly that famous FooW Confectioii of 

 Hoffmann the use of which, it was said, gave intelligence and memory 

 to those most destitute of them." I am not aware of any such benign 

 and beneficent property in the so-called fruit of kaju, else our village 

 boys, who, notwithstanding its acridity, so largely and with such avidity 

 use it throughout the period when the fruit is in season, — our village 

 boys, I say, would be giants of intellect, proportionate with the quantity 

 of fruit they consume! With regard to its use in Java, Madame 

 Nooten says that '^ the fruit has a very tempting colour, but this fruit, 

 so attractive to the eye, is not eatable." " It is true," she adds, " that 

 the edible part is sometimes eaten by the Javanese, but they find few 

 imitators on account of the sharp astringency of the juice which 

 possesses a virulent principle." What that virulent principle is 

 nobody has found out, so far as the acrid taste of the so-called fruit is 

 concerned. I remember to have eaten the fruit myself as a boy with 

 relish, though not without suffering from irritation of the throat lasting 

 for some time after eating it. And I have not failed to appreciate it 

 since. Though acrid, it is slightly sour, generally sweet, often 

 very sweet, and having an aromatic odour which some may not like. 

 A pinchful of common salt added to the sliced fruit, when eating, 

 reduces the acridity. Baillon says that fermented drinks — wine, alco- 

 hol, and vinegar — may be extracted from it. " In Brazil," says he, " it 

 is called the Sarsaparilla of the poor, and used as sudorific, diuretic and 

 antis}'philitic." Through the good offices of Mr. M. C. Pereira of 

 Bandra, I have been able to obtain for purely medicinal purposes a small 

 quantity of a clear spirit (alcohol) obtained from the so-called kaju 

 fruit. It was manufactured at Goa whence Mr. Pereira obtained a 



