DIVI-DIVI. 191 



it is said to form tlie principal material for tanning the cele- 

 brated Morocco leather. 



Divi-divi, Libi-dibi or Libi-divi (the native name). — 

 The seed-pods of Casalpinia coriaria. (Nat. Ord. Legumi- 

 nosa.) (Plate XII. fig. 59.) 



This tree is a native of the sea-side marshes of Curacoa, 

 St. Domingo, Cartagena, and several other places on the 

 Spanish Main. It attains a height of from fifteen to twenty 

 feet, producing an immense number of small yellow labur- 

 num-like flowers; these are succeeded by a pod varying 

 from one to three inches in length and two-thirds of an 

 inch broad, of a dark glossy-brown colour. As they grow, 

 these pods become curled in a very remarkable manner, 

 when short making merely one bend like the letter C, but 

 when of the full length, two curves, like the letter S. Divi- 

 divi is one of the most astringent of all vegetable sub- 

 stances, and consequently is of great value in tanning. At 

 present it is produced in such enormous quantities natu- 

 rally, that no need has yet been felt for its cultivation, but 

 it would doubtless well repay the grower. It is not used 

 by itself, but is generally mixed with oak-bark and valonia. 

 We receive it chiefly from Savanilla, Maracaibo, Paraiba, 

 and St. Domingo; in 1851 more than 3000 tons were im- 

 ported. 



