
COOK AND COLLINS—ECONOMIC PLANTS OF PORTO RICO. 77 
respect, equal to almond oil and considered superior to olive oil. The yield is 
about 40 per cent. The kernels are so extensively eaten in India, however, that 
it is almost impossible that a trade could at present be done in this oil. Sam- 
ples of this fixed oil, and information as to methods of preparation and extent of 
trade, are much required. The kernels have been once or twice exported to 
Europe under the name of ‘cassia nuts.’ 
*©(2) Cardole or Cashew-apple oil.—This is prepared from the pericarp or shell 
of the nut. It is black, acrid, and powerfully vesicating. In the Andamans it is 
used to color and preserve fishing lines. It is an effective preventive against 
white ants in carved woodwork. books, etc. The yield is 291 per cent. 
‘“The medicinal uses of this plant are many. The acrid oil is used as an anaes- 
thetic in leprosy, and as a blister in warts, corns, and ulcers. Between the 
laminae of the shell of the kernel there is a black caustic fluid, which contains an 
acrid oily principle, cardol, and a peculiar acid, anacardic acid. It possesses 
powerful rubefacient and vesicant properties. The spirit distilled from the 
expressed juices of the fruit may be used as a stimulant. Fruit eaten as a 
remedy for scurvy. The juice of the nut is used as a substitute for iodine locally. 
The oil I have used with benefit in the anaesthetic variety of leprosy. The oil 
obtained from the shell by maceration in spirit is the very best application for 
eracks of the feet so common with natives. The oil is efficacious, when faintly 
brushed, as a local stimulant in psoriasis.”’ 
Along the Adjuntas road we noticed trees of Anacardium from which the bark 
of the trunk had been largely hacked off. On inquiring it was learned that 
a decoction made of it was held in high esteem as an astringent remedy for 
diarrhea. 
In the bulletins of the botanic gardens of Jamaica and Trinidad this tree has 
also received attention, and some additional notes from these sources are appended: 
‘“A gum is obtained from the trunk. It is subastringent and highly unpala- 
table to insects. It consists principally of arabine and dextrine, both soluble in 
water, with a minor insoluble portion, probably bassarine. It forms a strong, 
yellowish mucilage with water. In South America it is largely used by book- 
binders; it is occasionally imported from that country into England and possesses 
the same commercial value as the common and inferior sorts of Arabic and Sene- 
gal gums. 
“The fruit of Anacardium is well known to West Indians, who, besides eating 
it in the fresh state, make conserves of it in various ways. Though sweet, it is 
at the same time very astringent and said to be useful in cases of dysentery and 
diarrhea. Many and various are the effects with which this tree, its fruit, bark, 
leaves, and seeds are credited, and if all were true, it would indeed be one of the 
wonders of nature. Itis said to possess aphrodisiacal properties, the leaves to 
be capable of producing drunkenness, the nuts or seeds when roasted to excite 
the faculties, especially memory, so much so that a confection made therefrom 
has been called ‘ confection des sages,’ and the oil from the nut is said to be 
equal to that made from the finest olives, while an acrid oil is produced from the 
epidermis of the nut, which is said by Barham in Hortus Americanus, 1794, to 
‘cure herpes and cancerous and malignant ulcers abounding in rotten flesh; it 
aiso kills worms in ulcers and chigoes; it takes away freckles and liver spots, but 
it draws blisters and therefore must be cautiously made use of. It has been 
observed that poor dropsical slaves that have had the liberty to go into a cashew 
walk and eat what cashews they pleased, and of the roasted nuts, have been 
recovered.’ ”’ 
Another writer brings an indictment against the West Indian fair sex for using 
it as a cosmetic when they have become tanned by exposure to the sun. He 
describes the process as follows: 
“They take a nut, scrape off the outside skin, and rub their faces with the 
