CARl] 



Elje (toajSury nf Uotany. 



224 



indeed, that merely hanging the meat 

 amongst the leaves of the tree will produce 

 the same effect; but in this case it is 

 probable that the result is rather attribut- 

 able to the high temperature, than to any 

 specific influence exerted by the tree. It 

 is also said that if old hogs or poultry be 

 fed upon the fruits and leaves, their flesh 

 will not fail to be tender. The ripe fruit is 

 seldom eaten raw, although, with the 

 addition of pepper and sugar, it is said to 

 be agreeable. It is generally made into 

 sauce, or preserved in sugar, in the West 

 Indies, and the unripe fruit is either 

 pickled, or boiled and eaten like turnips. 

 Its juice is used by the ladies as a cosme- 

 tic, to remove freckles ; it is also a power- 

 ful vermifuge. And, according to the 

 analysis of Vauquelin, it contains fibrine, a 

 substance at one time supposed to be 

 confined to the animal kingdom, but now 

 known to exist in several vegetables. The 

 leaves are employed as a substitute for 

 soap. C. spinosa is a branching tree, about 

 twenty feet high, with a spiny stem and 

 branches ; native of Guiana and Brazil, 

 where it is called Chamburu. Its leaves are 

 deeply cut into seven lobes, like those of C. 

 Papa ii a, but the lobes are quite entire. 

 The juice of this tree is of an exceedingly 

 acrid nature, causing blisters and itching 



if applied to the skin. The fruits are in- 

 sipid and are eaten only by a species of ant, 

 neither birds nor other animals touching 

 them : and the flowers have a disgustinaly 

 fetid odour. The fruits of some other 

 species, such as C. citriformis and C. pyri- 

 formis, are eatable, but insipid. [A. S.] 



CARIE. (Fr.) Uredo Caries. 



CARIES. This word is used in vegetable 

 pathology to denote decay of the walls of 

 the cells and vessels, whether attended by 

 a greater or less degree of moisture. Life 

 is necessarily limited in all organic struc- 

 ture, and therefore the time must come 

 when the oldest parts of trees must submit | 

 to decomposition ; and as soon as this com- 

 (S, it acts as a putrefactive ferment, 

 and involves neighbouring sound tissues. ' 



In plants of shorter duration, decay takes 

 place from various causes, sometimes from 

 mere constitutional peculiarities, some- 

 times from a cessation of vital functions, 

 sometimes again from atmospheric or 

 other outward agents, and sometimes from 

 parasitic fungi. The rapidity with which 

 the mischief spreads when once set up is 

 exemplified by the potato murrain and the 

 black spot of orchids ; a few days in either 

 case being sometimes sufficient to induce 

 complete decomposition. The decay of fruit, 

 though not due, as is sometimes supposed, 

 to minute fungi, is certainly promoted by 

 their presence, the mere contact of the tis- 

 sues and parasite being sufficient to set up 

 putrefactive action. [M. J. BJ 



CARILLON. (Fr.) Campanula Medium. 

 CARIM-GOLA. An Indian name for the 

 root of Monochoria vaginalis. 



CARINA (adj. CARINATE). A keel. The 

 two anterior petals of a papilionaceous 

 flower, the three anterior in a milkwort, or 

 any such. Also the thin sharp back of 

 certain parts, as that of a glume of Phala- 

 ris, &c. 



CARINATO-PLICATE. So plaited that 

 each fold is like a keel, as in the peristome 

 of some urn-mosses. 



CARIOPSIS. A one-celled one-seeded 

 superior fruit, whose pericarp is membra- 

 nous and united to the seed, as in wheat, 

 maize, and other kinds of corn. 



CARISSA. A genus of apocynaceous 

 plants consisting of shrubs with milky 

 juice, and having axillary flower-stalks, 

 some of which bear no flowers, but are 

 reduced to the condition of spines. The 

 corolla is funnel or salver-shaped, some- 

 times provided with hairs at its throat. 

 Fruit a two-celled berry with few seeds. 

 The species are natives of Asia and tropical 

 Australia. 



C. Carandas, a common Indian shrub, is 

 used for fence-making, for which its 

 thorny character renders it well adapted. 

 Its fruits are also eaten by the natives as a 

 conserve, &c. Some of the species have 

 medicinal properties, being as bitter as 

 gentian. The bark of C. Xylopicron, a 

 native of Mauritius and Bourbon, is used 

 by the Creoles in diseases of the urinary 

 organs, while its wood, there called Bois 

 amere, has a like reputation. Small cups 

 are made of it in which water or wine is 

 allowed to stand till it acquires the flavour 

 of the wood, as in the bitter cups now so 

 frequently used in this country. [1I.T.M.] 



CARLEMANN;A. A name applied by Ben- 

 tham to a genus of cinchouaceous plants, 

 in honour of Dr. Charles Leman, whose 

 herbarium is now in the possession of the 

 University of Cambridge. The plant is a 

 native of Khasia and the Himalaya, and ■ 

 has leaves with saw-toothed margins, and f 

 minute stipules, while the four-parted - 

 fiowerhasonly two stamens, a circumstance 

 which distinguishes the genus from all its 

 allies. [M. T.M.J 



