13 



a kind of drum by removing the pith or center of the branches. The inner 

 bark of the young branches yields a very tough fiber, which is made into 

 ropes. The milky juice of the stem hardens into caoutchouc. 



100. Cedrela odorata. — This forms a, large tree in the West India Islands, and is 



hollowed out for canoes; the wood is of a brown color and has a fragrant 

 odor, and is sometimes imported under the name of Jamaica cedar. 



101. Ceph^bus ipecacuanha. — This Brazilian plant produces the true ipecacuanha, 



and belongs to the Cinchonacce. The root is the part used in medicine, it 

 is knotty, contorted, and annulated, and of a grayish-brown color, and its 

 emetic properties are due to a chemical principle called emetin. 



102. Ceratonia siliqca. — The carobbean. This leguminous plant is a native of 



the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. The seed pods contain a 

 quantity of mucilaginous and saccharine matter, and are used as food for 

 cattle. Besides the name of carob beans, these pods are known as locust 

 pods, or St. John's bread, from a supposition that they formed the food of 

 St. John in the wilderness. It is now generally admitted that the locusts 

 of St. John were the insects so called, and which are still used as an article 

 of food in some of the Eastern countries. There is more reason for the 

 belief that the husks mentioned in the parable of the prodigal son were 

 these pods. The seeds were at one time used by singers, who imagined 

 that they softened and cleared the voice. 



103. Cerbera thevetia. — The name is intended to imply that the plant is as dan- 



gerous as Cerberus. The plant has a milky, poisonous juice. The bark is 

 purgative; the unripe fruit is used by the natives of Travancore to destroy 

 dogs, as its action causes their teeth to loosen and fall out. 



104. Cereus gigantea. — The suwarrow of the Mexicans, a native of the hot, 



arid, and almost desert regions of New Mexico, found growing in rocky 

 places, in valleys, and on mountain sides, often springing out of mere 

 crevices in hard rocks, and imparting a singular aspect to the scenery of 

 the country, its tall stems often reaching 40 feet in height, with upright 

 branches looking like telegraph posts for signaling from point to point of 

 the rocky mountains. The fruits are about 2 or 3 inches long, of a 

 green color and oval form; when ripe they burst into three or four pieces, 

 which curve back so as to resemble a flower. Inside they contain numer- 

 ous little black seeds, imbedded in a crimson-colored pulp, which the 

 Indians make into a preserve. They also eat the ripe fruit as an article of 

 food. 



105. Cereus macdonaldlei. — A night-blooming cereus, and one of the most beau- 



tiful. The flowers when fully expanded are over a foot in diameter, having 

 numerous radiating red and bright orange sepals and delicately white 

 petals. It is a native of the Honduras. 



106. Ceroxylon andicola. — The wax palm of New Grenada, first described by 



Humboldt and Bonpland, who found it on elevated mountains, extend- 

 ing as high as the lower limit of perpetual snow. Its tall trunk is covered 

 with a thin coating of a whitish waxy substance, giving it a marbled 

 appearance. The waxy substance forms an article of commerce, and is 

 obtained by scraping the trunk. It consists of two parts of resin and one 

 wax, and, when mixed with . one third of tallow, it makes very good 

 candles. The stem is used for building purposes, and the leaves for thatch- 

 ing roofs. 



107. Chamjedorea elegans. — This belongs to a genus of palms native of South 



America. The plant is of tall, slender growth; the stems are used for 

 walking canes, and the young, unexpanded flower spikes are used as a 

 vegetable. 



108. Chamjerops fortunii. — This palm is a native of the north of China, and is 



nearly hardy here. In China, the coarse brown fibers obtained from the 

 leaves are used for making hats and also garments called So-e, worn in wet 

 weather. 



109. ChamjEROPS humilis. — This is the only European species of palm, and does 



not extend farther north than Nice. The leaves are commonly used in the 

 south of Europe for making hats, brooms, baskets, etc. From the leaf fiber 

 a material resembling horse hair is prepared, and the Arabs mix it with 

 camel's hair for their tent covers. 



110. Chavica betel. — This plant is found all over the East Indies, where its leaf is 



largely used by Indian natives as a masticatory. Its consumption is im- 



