27 



the practice having descended from very remote ages, as is proved by the 

 Egyptian mummies, the parts dyed being usually the finger and toe nails, 

 the tips of the fingers, the palms of the haiids, and soles of the feet, receiv- 

 ing a reddish color, considered by Oriental belles as highly ornamental. 

 Henna is prepared by reducing the leaves to powder, and when used is 

 made into a pasty mass with water and spread on the part to be dyed, being 

 allowed to remain for twelve hours. The plant is known in the "West In- 

 dies as Jamaica Mignonette. 

 S61. Lecythis ollaria. — This tree produces the hard urn-shaped fruits known in 

 Brazil as monkey cups. The seeds are eatable and sold as Sapucaia nuts. 

 The fruit vessels are very peculiar, being 6 inches in diameter and having 

 closely fitting lids, which separate when the seeds are mature. The bark is 

 composed of a great number of layers, not thicker than writing paper, 

 which the Indians separate and employ as cigar wrappers. 



262. Leptospertjm lanigerum.— A plant known throughout Australia as Captain 



Cook's tea tree, from the circumstance that, on the first landing of this nav- 

 igator in that country, he employed a decoction of the leaves of this plant 

 as a corrective to the effects of scurvy among his crew, and this proved an 

 efficient medicine. Thickets of this plant, along the swampy margin of 

 streams, are known as Tea-tree scrubs. It is also known among the natives 

 as the Manuka plant. The wood is hard and heavy, and was formerly used 

 for making sharp-pointed spears. It belongs to the myrtle family of plants. 



263. Lieu ala acu.tifida. — This palm is a native of the island of Pulo-Penango, and 



yields canes known by the curious name of Penang Lawyers. It is a low- 

 growing plant, its stems averaging an inch in diameter. The stems are con- 

 verted into walking canes by scraping their rough exteriors and straighten- 

 ing them by means of fire heat. 



264. Limonia acidissima. — An East India shrub which produces round fruits about 



the size of damson plums, of a yellowish color, with reddish or purplish 

 tints. They are extremely acid, and the pulp is employed in Java as a sub- 

 stitute for soap. 



265. Livistonia atjstralis. — This is one of the few palms found in Australia. The 



unexpanded leaves, prepared by being scalded and dried in the shade, are 

 used for making hats, while the still younger and more tender leaves are 

 eaten like cabbage. 



266. Lucuma mammosum. — This sapotaceous plant is cultivated for its fruit, which 



is called marmalade, on account of its containing a thick agreeably flavored 

 pulp, bearing some resemblance in appearance and taste to quince marma- 

 lade. A native of South America. 



267. Maba geminata.— The ebony wood of Queensland. The heart wood is black, 



and the outside wood of a bright red color. It is close-grained, hard, heavy, 

 elastic and tough, and takes a high polish. 



268. Macadamia ternifolia. — An Australian tree which produces an edible nut 



called the Queensland nut. This fruit is about the size of a walnut, and 

 contains within a thick pericarp, a smooth brown-colored nut, inclosing a 

 kernel of a rich and agreeable flavor, resembling in Lome degree that of a 

 filbert. 



269. Mach^rum eirmtjm. — A South American tree which furnishes a portion of the 



rosewood of commerce. Various species of the genus, under the common 

 Brazilian name of Jaccaranda, are said to yield this wood, but there is 

 some uncertainty about the origin of the various commercial rosewoods. 



270. Maclura tinctoria. — The fustic tree. Large quantities of the bright yellow 



wood of this tree are exported from South America for the use of dyers, 

 who obtain from it shades of yellow, brown, olive, and green. A concen- 

 trated decoction of the wood deposits, on cooling, a yellow crystalline mat- 

 ter called Morine. This tree is sometimes called old fustic, in order to 

 distinguish it from another commercial dye called young fustic, which is 

 obtained in Europe from a species of Rhus. 



271. Macropiper methysticum.— A plant of the pepper family, which furnishes the 



root called Ava by the Polynesians. It has narcotic properties, and is em • 

 ployed medicinally, but is chiefly remarkable for the value attached to it as a 

 narcotic and stimulant beverage, of which the natives partake before they 

 commence any important business or religious rites. It is used by chewing 

 the root and extracting the juice, and has a calming rather than an intox- 

 icating effect. It is a filthy preparation, and only partaken of by the lower 

 classes of Feejeeans. 



