36 



363. Quassia amara. — The wood of this plant furnishes Surinam quassia. It is 

 destitute of smell, but has an intensely bitter taste, and is used as a tonic. 

 The root has also reputed medicinal value, as also have the flowers. 



361. Quillaja Saponaria.— The Quillai or Cully of the Chilians. Its bark is called 

 soap-bark, and is rough and dark-colored externally, but internally consists 

 of numerous regular whitish or yellowish layers, and contains a large 

 quantity of carbonate of lime and other mineral matters. It is also rich in 

 saponine, and is used for washing clothes; 2 ounces of the bark is sufficient 

 to wash a dress. It also removes all spots or stains, and imparts a fine 

 luster to wool; when powdered and rubbed between the hands in water, it 

 makes a foam like soap. It is to be found in commerce. 



365. Bandia aculeata. — A small tree native of the West Indies, also found in 



southern Florida. In the West Indies the fruit is used for producing a blue 

 dye, and medicinal properties are assigned to the bark. 



366. Raphia tcbdigera. — The Jupati palm. The leaf-stalks of this plant are used 



by the natives of the Amazon for a variety of purposes, such as construct- 

 ing inside walls, making boxes and baskets, etc. R. vinifera, the Bamboo 

 palm, is similarly used by the Africans, who also make a very pliable cloth 

 of the undeveloped leaves. Palm wine is one of the products of the genus. 



367. Ravenala madagascariensis. — This plant is called the Travele-'s tree, prob- 



ably on account of the water which is stored up in the large cup-like sheaths 

 of the leaf -stalks, and which is sought for by travelers to allay their thirst. 

 The broad leaves are used in Madagascar as thatch to cover their houses. 

 The seeds are edible, and the blue, pulpy aril surrounding them yields an 

 essential oil. 



368. Rhapis flabelliformis. — The ground rattan palm. This is supposed to 



yield the walking-canes known as rattan, which is doubted. It is a native 

 of southern China, and is also found in Japan, where it is known by the 

 name of Kwanwortsik. 



369. Rhizophora mangle.— This plant is known as the mangrove, possibly because 



no man can live in the swampy groves that are covered with it in trop- 

 ical countries. The seeds germinate, or form roots before they quit the 

 parent tree, and drop into the mud as young trees. The old plants send out 

 aerial roots into the water, upon which the mollusca adhere, and as the tide 

 recedes they are seen clinging to the shoots, verifying the statements of 

 old travelers that they had seen oysters growing on trees. All parts of this 

 tree contain tannin. The bark yields dyes, and in the West Indies the 

 leaves are used for poulticing wounds. The fruit is edible; a coarse, brittle 

 salt is extracted from the roots, and in the Philippines the bark is used as 

 a febrifuge. 



370. Rottlera tinctoria. — This plant belongs to the order Euphorbiacece, and 



reaches the size of a small tree in the Indian Arohipelago and southern 

 Australia. From the surface of the trilobed capsules of this plant, which 

 are about the size of peas, a red, mealy powder is obtained, well known in 

 India as kamala, and which is used by Hindoo silk-dyers, who obtain from 

 it a deep, bright, durable orange or flame color of great beauty. This is 

 obtained by boiling the powder in a solution of carbonate of soda. When 

 the capsules are ripe the red powder is brushed off and collected for sale, 

 no other preparation being necessary to preserve it. It is also used medici- 

 nally as an anthelmintic and has been successfully used in cases of tape- 

 worm. A solution removes freckles and pistules and eruptions on the skin. 



371. Ruellia indigotica. — This small bush is extensively cultivated in China for 



the preparation of a blue coloring-matter of the nature of indigo. The 

 pigment is prepared from the entire plant by a process similar to that em- 

 ployed in procuring the common indigo. It is sold in China in a pasty 

 state. The water in which the plant is steeped is mixed, with lime and 

 rapidly agitated, when the coloring deposits at the bottom of the vessel. 



372. Sabal adansoni. — This dwarf palm is a native of the Southern States. The 



leaves are made into fans, and the soft interior of the stem is edible. 



373. Sabal tjmbraculifera. — This is a West Indian palm; the leaves are used for 



various purposes, such as making mats, huts, etc. 



374. Saccharum officinarum.-— The sugar cane. Where the sugar cane was first 



cultivated is unknown, but it is supposed to have been in the East Indies, 

 for the Venetians imported it from thence by the Red. Sea prior to the year 

 1148. It is supposed to have been introduced into the islands of Sicily, Crete, 



