44 
bark is called soap-bark, and is rough and dark-colored externally, but 
internally consists of numerous regular whitish or yellowish layers, and 
contains a large quantity of carbonate of lime and other mineral mat- 
ters. Itis also rich in saponine, and is used for washing clothes; two 
ounces of the bark is sufficient to wash a dress. It also removes all 
spots or stains, and imparts a fine luster to wool; when powdered and 
rubbed between the hands in water, it makes a foam like soap. It is to 
be found in commerce. 
RAPHIA TOADIGERA.—The Jupati palm. The leaf-stalks of this 
plant are used by the natives of the Amazon for a variety of purposes, 
such as constructing inside walls, making boxes and baskets, &c. A. 
vinifera, the Bamboo palm, is similarly used by the Africans, who also 
make very pliable cloth of the undeveloped leaves. Palm-wine is one of 
the products of the genus. 
RAVENALA MADAGASCARIENSIS.—This plant is called the Traveler’s 
tree, probably on account of the water which is stored up in the large 
cup-like sheaths of the leaf-stalks, and which is sought for by travelers 
to allay their thirst. The broad leaves are used in Madagascar as thatch 
to cover their houses. The seeds are edible, and the blue, pulpy aril 
surrounding them yields an essential oil. 
RHAPIS FLABELLIFORMIS.—The Ground Rattan palm. This is sup- 
posed to yield the walking-canes known as rattan, which is doubted. 
It is a native of Southern China, and is also found.in Japan, where it is 
known by the name of Kwanwortsik. 
RHIZOPHORA MANGLE.—This plant is known as the Mangrove, possi- 
bly because no man can live in the swampy groves that are covered with 
it in tropical countries. The seeds germinate, or form roots before they 
quit the parent tree, and drop into “the mud as young trees. The old 
plants send out aerial roots into the water, upon which mollusea adhere, 
and as the tide recedes they are seen clinging to the shoots, verifying 
the statements of old travelers that they had seen oysters growing on 
trees. All parts of this tree contain tannin. The bark yields dyes, and 
in the West Indies the leaves are used for poulticing wounds. The fruit 
is edible; a coarse bitter salt is extracted from the roots, and in the 
Philippines the bark is used as a febrifuge. 
ROTTLERA TINCTORIA.—This plant belongs to the order Huphorbiacec, 
and reaches the size of a small tree in the Indian Archipelago and 
Southern Australia. From the surface of the trilobed capsules of this 
plant, which are about the size of peas, a red, mealy powder is obtained, 
well known in India as kamala, and which is used by Hindoo silk-dyers, 
who obtain from it deep, bright, durable orange or flame color, of great 
beauty. This is obtained by boiling the powder in a solution of the 
carbonate of soda. When the capsules are ripe, the red powder is 
brushed off and collected for sale, no other preparation being necessary 
to. preserve it. It is also used medicinally as an anthelmintic, and has 
been very successfully used in cases of tapeworm. A solution removes 
freckles, and pustules, and eruptions on the skin. 
ROYENA MICROPHYLLA.—A native of the Cape of Good Hope, and of 
the Ebony family. The wood of this plant is of alike nature with ebony, 
but the tree does not grow to a'great size. 
RUELLIA INDIGOTICA.—This small bush is eee cultivated in 
China for the preparation of a blue coloring-matter of the nature of 
indigo. The pigment is prepared from the entire plant by a process 
similar to that employed in procuring the common indigo. It is sold in 
China in a pasty state. The water in which the plant is steeped is 
