310 ON THE PRODUCTS OF THE PEA FAMILY. 



colony, instead of sending it to the Museum. A Guard-fish (Hemiramphus), 

 a Tunny (Thynniis), and an Eel (Myrcena), are also commonly used for food. 



Amongst useful fishes not good for food, I may mention the common 

 European Sunfish {Orthagoriscus Mola), as not uncommonly caught in the 

 Bay, for its large supply of oil. 



Of Crustacea, few kinds are used for food in Victoria ; there are no true 

 lohsters, and no crabs (Canceridce) fit for the table ; but a spiny crayfish, of 

 about the same size and shape as the English species, is very common at 

 the Heads, and is supplied abundantly to the market. It is nearly or quite 

 identical with the H. annulicornis, the gigantic Murray river crayfish (the 

 Astacoides serratus), is now sent down alive in great numbers, to the 

 markets for the table ; the smaller river crayfish, the Astacoides quinqueca- 

 rinatus, is also often eaten in the country, but is not sent to market ; it 

 forms the chief food of the so-called " Murray cod," from the stomach of 

 one of which I took twenty nearly perfect. 



ON THE PRODUCTS OF THE PEA FAMILY (LEGUMINOSE^E). 



BY JOHN R. JACKSON. 



Part II. — CiESALPiNiEiE. 



Hozmatoxylon campechianum L., yields the well-known Logwood of 

 commerce. It is a native of Campeachy (whence its specific name), and 

 other parts of tropical America, and is now naturalized in Jamaica, where 

 it grows in great quantities. The tree attains a height of from 20 to 30 feet, 

 with a diameter of about 20 inches ; very irregular and crooked in growth. 

 The duramen or heart-wood is the part used and so much valued for 

 dyeing. It owes its colouring properties to a peculiar principle called 

 Hsematin or Hematoxylin which, in some specimens, is found in such 

 great abundance as to be perceptible in distinct crystals. A decoction of 

 this wood is of a deep blood red, changing by the action of acids to a 

 brighter hue, while alkalies turn it to a purple. It is largely used by 

 dyers, &c, and is also employed in medicine on account of its astringent 

 and tonic properties. We receive it in large quantities from Campeachy, 

 Honduras, and Jamaica, in logs of about three feet in length, with the sap- 

 wood taken off. The introduction of this wood into England dates from 

 the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Logwood is of a very dense nature, and 

 takes a high polish ; but it is very rarely used in turning or for ornamental 

 work. 



Guilandina Bonduc, L., a shrub growing in all the tropics, produces hard 

 shining seeds of a slate colour ; but sometimes yellow, and about the size 

 of a large Barcelona nut. These seeds are employed for various ornamental 



