FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 335 



Museum (Coll. Capt. Moloney). The habitat of the 

 Ogea tree seems to be in swamp-lands. — ' New- 

 Economic Products at the Ro}-al Gardens, Kew,' 

 W. T. T. Dyer ; ' Linnaean Society's Journal,' vol. xx., 

 p. 408, &c. 



Tamarind {Taviarindiis indica, L.). — Tree 60 to 

 80 feet high. The wood, which is very hard, and 

 sinks in water, is highly prized in India, though so 

 difficult to work. The natives employ it for wheels, 

 planes, furniture, oil and sugar mills, &c. It is also 

 an excellent wood for turning purposes, as also for 

 gunpowder charcoal. The fruits have an agreeable 

 acid flavour, and are highly valued in very hot 

 countries for the preparation of cooling beverages ; 

 they are also used in medicine in various wa}'s, but 

 chiefly as a laxative. The leaves are said to furnish 

 a yellow dye, and to be used in curries in India. 

 The powdered seeds mixed with gum form a strong 

 cement, and when deprived of the hard outer covering 

 by long boiling, the kernels are used as food by the 

 natives of India in times of scarcity.—' ^Manual of 

 Indian Timbers,' Gamble, p. 142 ; ' Treasurj- of 

 Botany,' Lindley and Moore, &c. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea, Nile Land, Lower 

 Guinea, South Central, Mozambique District. 



Brachystcgia spicczforinis, Benth. — Tree 20 to 40 

 feet high. Bark said by ^ilessrs. Speke and Grant 

 to be employed by the natives of the IMozambique 



