THE CASHEW NUT, &o. 



387 



botter reason to suppose, he adds, that the shells 

 of the carob pod might be the husks which the 

 prodigal son desired to partake of with the swine. 

 The tree is very common in the south of Spain; 

 and the seeds or beans, as they were then called, 

 often formed the principal food of the British 

 cavalry horses, during the war of 1811 and 1812. 

 In our greeen-honses the plant seldom flowers. 



Cashew Nut, ( annacardmm occidentale.) Na- 

 tural family, ierelintacex. Enneand. Monogynia 

 of Linn. 



This is an elegant tree, anati ve 

 of Jamaica, bearing panicled 

 corymbs of sweet-smelling 

 flowers, succeeded by an edible 

 fruit of the apple kind, of a yel- 

 low or red colour. The fruit 

 has an agreeable subacid flavour, 

 with some degree of astringenoy. 

 The juice expressed and fer- 

 mented yields a pleasant wine, 

 and distilled, a spirit is dravrn 

 from it far exceeding arrack or Cashew Nut. 

 rum. The dried and broken kernels are occa- 

 sionally imported for mixing with old Madeira 

 wine, the flavour of which they greatly im- 

 prove. 



The nut protrudes from one end of the apple. 

 It is of the size and shape of a hare's kidney, but 

 is much larger at the end next the fruit than at 

 the other. The outer shell is of an ash colour, 

 and very smooth; under this is another which 

 covers the kernel; between these there is a thick 

 inflammable oil, which is very caustic: this will 

 raise blisters on the skin, and has often been very 

 troublesome to those who have incautiously put 

 the nuts into their mouths to break the shell. 

 This oil has been used with great success in eat- 

 ing off ring worms, cancerous ulcers, and corns; 

 but it ought to be applied with caution. Tlie 

 kernel when fresh, has a most delicious taste, 

 and abounds with a sweet milky juice, and forms 

 an ingredient in puddings, &c. When older it 

 is generally roasted, and in this state is not so 

 proper for weak stomachs. Ground with cacao 

 it makes an excellent chocolate. 



A milky juice exudes from the trunk of the 

 tree by tapping, which stains linen a deep and 

 indelible black. A semi-transparent gum is also 

 produced from this tree, similar to gum Arabic. 



The Juvia, (lertholletia excelsa.) This is 

 one of the most extraordinary fruits of South 

 America, which has been made familiar to us 

 principally by the interesting description of Hum- 

 boldt. It was first noticed in a geographical 

 work published in 1633, by Laet, who says that 

 the weight of this fruit is so enormous, that, at 

 the period when it falls, the savages dare not 

 enter the forests without covering their heads 

 and shoulders with a strong buckler of wood. 

 Tlie natives of Esmerelda still describe the danger 



which they run, when the fruit falls from a 

 height of fifty or sixty feet. The triangular 

 grains which the shell of the juvia incloses, are 

 known in commerce under the name of Brazil 

 nuts; and it has been erroneously thought that 

 they grow upon the tree in the form in which 

 they are imported. 



The tree which produces the juvia is only 

 about two or three feet in diameter, but it reaches 

 a height of a hundred and twenty feet. The 

 fruit is as large as a child's head. Humboldt 

 justly observes that nothing can give a more 

 forcible idea of the power of vegetable life in the 

 eqiiinoctial zone than these enormous ligneous 

 pericarps. In fifty or sixty days a shell is formed 

 half an inch in thickness, which it is difficult to 

 open with the sharpest instrument. The grains 

 which this shell contains have two distinct en- 

 velopes. Four or five, and sometimes as many 

 as eight, of these grains are attached to a cen- 

 tral membrane. The Capuchin apes (Simia chir- 

 optes) are exceedingly fond of the almonds of 

 the juvia; and the noise of the falling fruit ex- 

 cites their appetites in the highest degree. The 

 natives say that these animals unite their strength 

 to break the pericarp with a stone, and thus to 

 obtain the coveted nuts. Humboldt doubts this; 

 but he thinks that some of the order of rodentia, 

 such as the cavia aguti, are able to open the outer 

 shell with their sharp teeth applied with un- 

 wearied pertinacity. When the triangular nuta 

 are spread on the ground, all the animals of the 

 forest surround them, and dispute their posses- 

 sion. The Indians, who collect these nuts, say 

 "it is the feast of the animals, as well as of our- 

 selves; " but they are angry with their rivalry. 

 The gathering of the juvia is celebrated with re- 

 joicings, like the vintage of Europe. 



The Pistacia Nut, (pistacea officinalis.) The 

 pistaeia tree belongs to the natural family tere- 

 bintacece, Dicecia pentandria of Linn. It is 

 from twenty-five to thirty feet in height, with 

 heavy tortuous branches, covered with a thick 

 grayish bark. The leaves are large, oblong, and 

 of a coriaceous texture. The male flowers are 

 minute and scarcely visible, and spring from the 

 sides of the branches in loose clusteiis: the female 

 or fertile flov\rers are also small, and both are of 

 a gi-eenish colour. The fruit is a thin shelled, 

 oval, acuminate nut, about the size of an olive. 

 These nuts are produced in bunches, and are 

 commonly in profusion. They are esteemed by 

 some of a more agi-eeable flavour than the hazel 

 nut or almond, and are annually exported to 

 those parts of Europe where the tree does not 

 flourish. 



This tree is indigenous to Asia Minor, and is 

 particularly abundant in Syria. It is cultivated 

 to a considerable extent in Sicily, for the sake of 

 its nuts. It succeeds in dry, stony, calcareous 

 grounds, but thrives in a sandy or moist soil. In 



