594 Macfadyen^s Flora of Jamaica. 



the tree, on a dry day, and, after being slightly papered, packed 

 in common flour-barrels on the spot, there cannot be a doubt but 

 that they would bear the voyage over to England, and arrive there 

 in a marketable condition. We are anxious to establish the 

 clove and the nutmeg, when we have already a tree which would, 

 were it more generally and carefully cultivated, give us an 

 article of exportation for which the demand is constant, and 

 would, in any part of the world, command a market. Few trees 

 are lono-er lived than the orange, those of the orange groves of 

 Spain having survived 600 years ; and few are more productive, 

 some individuals having been known to produce, in one year, 

 6000 oranges. The sweet orange, according to Dr. Turner, 

 contains malic acid ; and, we may ask, might not an effervescing 

 liquor, like cider, be obtained from the juice? As a fruit, it is 

 inferior to none. ' The pulp is cooling and refreshing in fevers, 

 inflammation, and scurvy, and alterative in phthisis and dys- 

 pepsia.' The bitter orange is employed in making the well- 

 known preserve, marmalade ; the peel is an aromatic bitter ; the 

 roasted pulp is an excellent application to fetid sores ; and the 

 newroes employ it as a substitute for soap in washing their 

 coarse linens. From the flower a distilled water is prepared." 

 (p. 130.) 



Cedrela odordta, the West Indian cedar, is a tree with abruptly 

 pinnated leaves, of rapid growth, attaining a considerable height. 

 *' This is one of the most valuable timber trees of the island. 

 The wood is of a reddish-brown colour, and has a pleasant 

 smell. The leaves, bark, and flowers of the growing tree, on 

 the contrary, give out, especially when young, and after rains, a 

 most disagreeable alliaceous odour,"resembling that of asafoetida 

 or garlic, mixed with that of highly dried tobacco, which is felt 

 very sensibly at a considerable distance. As a timber tree, it is 

 superior to the pitch pine, and is employed for similar purposes. 

 It is particularly recommended for wainscoting rooms, and for 

 chests, and the inside of clothes-presses and drawers, from the 

 circumstance that vermin are known not to breed in it. This 

 may be ascribed partly to the strong odour it exhales, and also 

 to the bitter taste of the wood itself. Hence, though it is occa- 

 sionally employed to make rum-butts, it always communicates, 

 from the resin in the wood being dissolved, a peculiarly bitter 

 taste. It has been remarked, that pigeons never take to, or 

 breed in, a house made of this wood, probably from the strong 

 smell it exhales. In like manner, bees never build in a hive 

 made of it. Meat, also, placed in a fresh cedar box, is said to 

 acquire a peculiar flavour. One of the principal purposes for 

 which the cedar is applied is, for splitting into shingles to cover 

 houses. These are very durable, and usually last for fifteen 

 years ; though they may be preserved much longer by giving 



