264 PENTANDHIA MONOGYNIA, StrvcknOS, 



last year's shoots, round the base of this year's, small, bearing \ a ter. 



nary order, many, small, erect, fragrant, greenish-) eliou flowers . 



Filaments rather longer than in J\ux-tomica,— Germ and contents as 

 in S. Nux-vomica. — Berry shining, black when ripe. 



Tlie wood of this like that of the former is hard and durable, and 

 is used for various economical purposes. 



The pulp of the fruit, when lipe, is eaten by ihe natives ; to me the 

 taste is rather disagreeable, 



The ripe seeds are dried, and sold in every market to clear mud- 

 dy water. The natives never drink clear well water if they can get 

 pond or river water, which is always more or less impure accord- 

 ing to circumstances. One of the seeds is well rubbed for a minute 

 or two round the inside of the vessel containing the water, general- 

 ly an unglazed earthem one, which is then left to settle; in a very 

 short time the impuiities fall to the bottom, leaving the water clear 

 and, so far as I have been able to learn, perfectly wholesome. 

 These seeds are constantly carried about by the more provident part 

 cf our officers and soldiers, in time of war, to enable them to purify 

 their water. Tliey are easier to be obtained than alum, and are pro. 

 bably less hurtful to the constitution. 



3. S. colubrina* Willd. sp. i. 1052s. 



Scandent ; tendrils simple. Leaves from oval to oblong, obtuse* 

 ]y acuminate, triple-nerved, polished. Berries many-seeded. 



* The following note was written by Dr. Roxburgh several years before this species 

 ■was discovered in Bengal, and attached to S. Nux-voaiica. I have therefore thought it best 

 to insert it here.— Ed, 



There is a tree, but exceedingly rare on this coast, which the Telingas call Narja mn- 

 sadi (Naga, or Tansoopuum in the Telinga language, means the Cobra de Capella, or Coluber 

 naga of Linneus, Tansoo means dancing, and pcmm a serpent ; this sort being famous for 

 erecting its head and moving it from side to side at the sound of music.) I have only once 

 met with this tree, and then it was pointed out to me by a Telinga Doctor. The tree had 

 been cut down, and carried rway, from the only remaining one that I could find, »ome shoots 

 Lad sprung up. The leaves upon these were opposite, short-petioled, obtuse-lanceolate, 

 three-nerved ; about two, or two and half inches long, by three-fourths ofaa inch broad. The 



petiohj 



