314 ON THE PRODUCTS OF THE PEA FAMILY. 



Eperua falcata, Aubl., known in British Guiana as " Wallaba," produces 

 a strong and valuable wood of a deep red colour ; it is hard and heavy, but 

 splits freely and smoothly, and is much used for shingles, staves, palings, 

 posts, house-frames &c. It is impregnated with a resinous oil, which makes 

 it very durable both in and out of water. A roof well shingled with this wood 

 will last more that forty years. The tree is very abundant throughout the 

 colony, growing generally on the banks of the rivers. Timber may be cut 

 from it 30 or 40 feet long, by 15 to 20 inches square. Lindley says the 

 bark is bitter and is used by the Arawaak Indians as an emetic. 

 Melanoxylon Brauna, Schott., a native of Brazil, furnishes a hard wood, the 

 duramen of which is of a dark colour, somewhat resembling rosewood, but 

 of a silvery transparent appearance. It takes a good polish, and can be 

 obtained in tolerably large blocks, as the tree grows to a good size. A red- 

 dish brown colouring matter is said to be contained in both the wood and 

 bark. The well-known preserve called " Tamarinds " is made with the pods 

 of Tamarindus Indicus, L., a native originally of the East Indies, but culti- 

 vated now to a large extent in the "West Indies and South America. The 

 early history of this plant has been traced to the Arabians, from whom the 

 tree derived its name, from tamar, signifying a date, and indus its country. 

 Tamarinds as they appear in commerce consist of the pulp of the pods 

 after the epicarp or outer shell has been removed ; this is done in their 

 native country, and they are afterwards packed in layers in a cask, and 

 boiling syrup poured upon them. In the West Indies, layers of sugar are 

 frequently added. Those from the East Indies possess a larger quan- 

 tity of pulp, but are dryer than the West Indian, owing, it is said, to their 

 being preserved without sugar. Tamarinds are imported to this country 

 in very large quantities, amounting, in 1859, to 634,697 lbs., chiefly from 

 the West Indian Islands ; they are used largely in medicine as an agent in 

 the composition of cooling drinks. The pulp is nutritious and refrigerant, 

 and is also employed as a laxitive. The tree producing this pod grows to 

 a height of from 30 to 40 feet ; the wood is very dense, and so heavy as 

 to sink in water. It is beautifully mottled with wide streaks of a deep 

 plum colour. 



Trachylobium Martianum, Hayne, is said to yield a resin called copal in 

 Brazil. The West Indian locust tree — Hymencea Courbaril, L., is a native of 

 the South American forests, where it grows to an enormous size, frequently 

 attaining a height of from 60 to 80 feet, before any branches are given off, 

 and leaving a diameter of from 8 to 9 feet. Martius in speaking of the 

 magnitude of these trees says, that fifteen Indians with outstretched arms 

 could scarcely encircle the base of one of them. He attributes their age to 

 the days of Homer, and assumes the probability of their being 332 years 

 old in Pythagoras's time ; some have even ventured to give them a greater 

 antiquity than this. The wood of these trees is hard and close-grained, of 

 a fine, brown colour, streaked with dark veins. It takes a good polish, and 

 might be employed for furniture, but its chief use is for beams and timbers 

 for steam engines, planking vessels, &c. The farinaceous saccharine pulp 



