460 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 
is said to be successfully exhibited as a succedaneum of cin- 
chona.’ 
A large formation of sugar is remarked in but few Lawracea. It 
occurs, however, in the leaves of the true Ceylon Cinnamon-tree,’ 
and, above all, in the pericarp of the Avocado (Persea gratissima ; 
Fr., Avocatier).? The fruit of this tree, known as the Avocado- or 
Alligator-pear,' is one of the best known in the tropics, though 
somewhat sickly to a European palate. It is a pear-shaped berry, 
at first green, later more or less violet or brownish, wherein is found 
a large globular seed with fleshy hemispherical cotyledons. The 
pulp, seasoned in various ways, is sometimes termed vegetable butter 
(Fr., beurre végétal) or subalterns’ butter. Its taste is compared to 
the artichoke and the hazel nut. It is used as food and as 
medicine ;> and the buds leaves and seeds also serve the latter pur- 
pose in the Antilles.* The pericarp is very rich in fatty matter—a 
greenish oil, as in the common Bay. In the fruit of Zetranthera 
laurifolia’ this becomes a true wax, used for making tapers. 
There is but one Laurad used on account of its colouring matter : 
Ocotea tinctorea.® 
The wood of many Laurads is very good and handsome, with a 
fine close grain, often shining, through the presence of numerous 
little dents, more rarely dark coloured as in WNectandra cymbarum’ 
and odie” and Silvia navalium AuLEM.“ These woods are dense, 
resisting the action of water, and used in ship-building. Many 
others of lower density but greater elasticity, pale tawny in colour, 
with a silky gleam, are prized by the cabinet-maker. 
Boxes and 
1 Ropig, in Guian. Roy. Gaz. (8 Aug., 1844). 
—GuIB., Drog. Simp., ed. 6, ii. 395. — PEREIRA, 
Elem, Mat. Med., ed. 4, ii. p. i, 465.—Marr., 
Fl. Bras., Laurac., 319. The bark contaius the 
alkaloid bebeerin (C,,H,,NO,), whose sulphate is 
said to act as an antiperiodic, though less 
strongly than the sulphate of quinine. 
2 The sweet taste of its leaves affords a ready 
mode of distinguishing it in cultivation from its 
very similar allies. 
3 GmRtn., Fruct., ili, 222.—NzEzs, Syst., 128. 
—Mauissn., Prodr., 52, n. 36.—GUIB., op. cit., 
ii. 399.—Linpu., Fl. Med., 333.—Manrt., FZ. 
Bras., Lawrac., 8320.—H. By., in Diet. Encyel. 
des Sc. Médic., vii. 520.—Persea Cius., Hist., 
j, 2.—Pxium., Amer., 44, t. 20.—P. precor 
Parr.—P. Schiedeana Nurs.—Prunifera arbor 
fructu maximo piriformi Suoan., Jam., ii, 182, 
t. 222.—Laurus Persea L., Spec, ed. 2, 
529. 
+ Aguacute or Palto, Aouara, Pear of New 
Spain, Avocato of the Brazilians. 
® Employed by the negroes of the Antilles in 
the treatment of all the disorders of women. 
6 The leaves as a pectoral vulnerary and sto- 
machic; the buds as a remedy for bruises and 
syphilis; the juice of the seed as an astringent. 
This last, rich in tannin, affords an indelible ink, 
which turns brown in the air (used for marking 
clothes, &¢.). Allanimals prize the fruit for food. 
7 See p. 459, note 6. 
8 Ness, ex RosENTH., op. cit., 235, 
9 See p. 458, note 12, 
10 See p. 459, notes 13, 14, Mart., Fl. Bras., 
Laurac., 315. 
1 See p. 468, note 4. 
