ET 
used as a substitute for coffee in the Mauritius, and in the interior of 
Africa. 
CASTILLOA ELASTICA. Gas is a Mexican tree, which yields a milky 
juice, forming caoutchouc, but is not collected for commerce except in a 
limited way. 
CASUARINA QUADRIVALVIS.—This Tasmanian tree produces a very 
hard wood, of a reddish color, often called Beef wood. It is marked 
with dark stripes, and is much’ used in some places for picture-frames 
and ecabinet-work. This belongs to a curious family of trees, having no 
leaves, but looking like a gigantic specimen of Horse-Fail gr: ass, a weed 
to be seen in wet places. 
CATHA EDULIS.—This plant is a native of Arabia, where it attains 
the height of seven to ten feet. Its leaves are used by the Arabs 
in preparing a beverage like tea or coffee. The twigs, with leaves 
attached, in bundles of fifty, and in pieces from twelve to fifteen inches 
in length, form a very considerable article of commerce, representing in 
Arabia the Paraguay tea in South America and the Chinese tea in 
Europe. The effects produced by a decoction of the leaves of Cafta, as 
they are termed, are described as similar to those produced by strong 
green tea, only more pleasing and agreeable. The Arab soldiers chew 
the leaves when on sentry duty, to keep them from feeling drowsy. Its 
use is of great antiquity, pr eceding that of coffee. Its stimulating 
effects induced some Arabs to class it with intoxicating substances, the 
use of which is forbidden by the Koran, but a synod of learned Mussul- 
mans decreed that, as it did not impair the health or impede the observ- 
ance of religious duties, but only increased hilarity and good humor, it 
was lawful to use it. 
CECROPIA PELTATA.—The South American Trumpet tree, so called be-. 
cause its hollow branches are used for musical instruments. The Waupe 
Indians form a kind of drum by removing the pith or center of the 
branches. The inner bark of the. young branches yields a very tough 
fiber, which is made into ropes. The milky juice of the stem hardens 
into caoutchoue. 
CEDRELA ODORATA.—This forms a large tree in the West India Islands, 
and is hollowed out for canoes; the wood is of a brown-color and a fra- 
grant odor, and is sometimes imported under the name of Jamaica cedar. 
CEPH ZLIS IPECACUANHA.—This Brazilian plant produces the true 
ipecacuanha, and belongs to the Cinchonacee. The root is the part used 
in medicine, and its emetic properties are due to a chemical principle 
called emetin. 
CEPHALOTUS FOLLICULARIS.—The New Holland Pitcher plant, a 
native of swampy places in King George’s Sound. It has a very short 
or contracted stem, with spoon-shaped stalked leaves, among which are 
mingled small pitcher-like bodies, placed on short, stout stalks, and closed 
at the top with lids like the true Pitcher plants, the Nepenthes. 
CERATONIA SILIQUA.—The Carob beau. This leguminous plant is a 
native of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. The seed pods 
contain a quantity of mucilaginous and saccharine matter, and are used 
as food for cattle. Besides the name of Carob beans, these pods are 
known as Locust pods, or St. John’s bread, from a supposition that they 
formed the food of St. John in the wilderness. It is now generally ad- 
mitted that the locusts of St. John were the animals so-called, and which 
are still used as an article of food in some of the Eastern countries. 
There is more reason for the belief that the husks mentioned in the 
parable of the prodigal son were these pods. The seeds were at one 
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