BRAZIL WOOD. 



185 



more luxuriance upon those that are of a richer 

 kind. The oil, which is extracted from the 

 seed, is in general use for lamps and other pur- 

 poses, but neither is it eaten, nor known as a 

 medicine ; but it is administered as an outward 

 application. It is given to animals that have 

 drank the juice of the mandioc, and is sometimes 

 successful in forcing the poison back from the 

 stomach. The plant is much cultivated, but 

 it is frequently to be seen growing sponta- 

 neously. * 



BRAZIL WOOD. 



The wood from which is extracted the beau- 

 tiful red dye, which is so much esteemed in 

 Europe, is, I believe, generally supposed to be 

 peculiar t to the country to which it has given 

 a name. X It is often called in Pernambuco 

 (from whence, I imagine, that it is exclusively 



* Labat was a most determined experimental eater, and 

 therefore I was not surprised at meeting with the following 

 expression of regret: " Je suis fache de n 'avoir pas experi- 

 ment e pendant que j'etois aux isles, si cette huile ne seroit pas 

 bonne a manger." — Nouveau Voyage, &c. torn. hi. p. 283. 

 I wish he had. 



f Mr. Clarkson, in his work on the Impolicy of the Slave 

 Trade, p. 13. and 14., mentions that a small billet was brought 

 to England from the coast of Africa among a parcel of bar- 

 wool ; that " it was found to produce a colour that emulated 

 the carmine, and was deemed to be so valuable in the dying 

 trade, that an offer was immediately made of sixty guineas 

 per ton for any quantity that could be procured." 



$. History of Brazil, vol. i. p. 19. 



