272 ON THE PRODUCTS OF THE PEA FAMILY. 



which they are easily captured. Rosewood is produced by species of 

 Dalbergia. We receive it from Rio Janeiro, Bahia, Honduras, and the East 

 Indies. The first of these is the most esteemed among cabinet-makers ; of 

 this, Mr. Bentham says, it is chiefly produced by Dalbergia nigra. He also 

 states that Honduras and Martaban rosewoods appear to be produced 

 by species of the tribe Dalbergia. The Sissoo wood of the East Indies is 

 produced by Dalbergia Sissoo, Roxb., a valuable tree, very extensively 

 employed in India for various purposes, especially by shipbuilders, where 

 bent timber is required, as it is very elastic, and, it is said, more tough 

 than teak. 



Dalbergia latifolia, Roxb., furnishes the wood known as East Indian 

 Black wood. It grows extensively and to a large size on the Malabar coast, 

 takes a high polish, and is much used in the construction of furniture. The 

 wood of Dalbergia lanceolaria, Lin. fil., is employed in Ceylon for house- 

 building purposes. 



Piscidia erythrina, L., a valuable tree growing in Jamaica, affords an 

 excellent timber known as " Dogwood," and much employed there for piles 

 for wharves, and other work in damp or wet situations, because of its strong, 

 durable, and resinous qualities. The bark constitutes a valuable fish poison 

 amongst the natives, who reduce it to a powder by grinding, place it in a 

 bag, which is deposited in some deep and convenient part of the river, 

 when its effects soon spread, leaving the fish free for capture. 



Piscidia Cartliaginensis, L., also a native of Jamaica, much resembles 

 the former ; the wood is known as " bitch wood," and is more esteemed 

 than any other in the island for making naves of wheels. The wood of 

 Geoffroya superba, H.B., is hard and durable, taking a fine polish ; it is 

 used for building purposes. The fruits called " mari," are eaten in various 

 parts of Brazil ; they form the principal food of the inhabitants ■ of the 

 Isle of St. Pedro. The bark of the " Cabbage tree," Andira inermis, H.B., 

 a native of the West Indies, was formerly considered a vermifuge, but its 

 use now is almost, if not quite, obsolete. Its properties are narcotic and 

 emetic, fatal cases having arisen from its imprudent use. The wood is 

 used in Jamaica for various economical purposes. The well-known 

 Tonquin bean, so much employed for scenting snuff, is the seed of 

 Dipteryx odorata, Willd., a native of Guiana. It owes its pleasant odour to 

 a peculiar principle called " coivmarine." A few hundredweights are 

 annually imported for the sole purpose of scenting snuff. The flowers, or 

 rather the flower buds of Sopliora Japonica, L., yield a yellow dye much 

 used in China, by the name of Hoai-hoa. An interesting account of this 

 dye will be found in the first volume of the Technologist, p. 3. The seeds 

 of Sophora tomentosa, L., are employed in India in cases of bilious attack ; 

 an infusion of the root is also employed for the same purpose. 



Balsam of Peru is the resin obtained by incisions made in the stems of 

 Myrospermum Pereira, and other allied species, natives of Central America 

 and the north-west part of South America. The manner employed by the 

 natives in collecting it is by making incisions of from nine to ten inches long 



