16 
of Europe and in the Mediterranean regions. It is abundant about 
Gibraltar, and the military stationed there frequently cut capers. 
This commercial product consists of the flower-buds, and sometimes the 
unripe fruits, pickled in vinegar. The wood aud bark possess acrid 
_ qualities, which will act as a blister when applied to the skin. 
CARAPA GUIANENSIS.—A meliaceous plant, native of tropical Amer- 
ica, where it grows to a height of sixty to eighty feet. The bark of this 
tree possesses febrifugal properties and is also used for tanning. By 
pressure the seeds yield a liquid oil called carap-oil or crab-oil, suitable 
for burning in lamps. 
CARICA PAPAYA.—This is the South American Papaw tree, but is 
cultivated in most tropical countries. It is also known as the Melon- 
Apple. The fruit is of a dingy orange-color, of an‘oblong form, about 
eight to ten inches long, by three or four inches broad. It is said that 
the juice of the tree, or an infusion of the leaves and fruit, has the prop- 
erty of rendering tough fiber quite tender; an ancient elastic gander 
will thus be softened into an edible pulp. Animals fed upon the fruit 
and leaves will have very tender and juicy flesh. 
CARLUDOVICA PALMATA.—Is a pandanaceous plant from Panama and 
southward. Panama hats are made from the leaves of this plant. The 
leaves are cut when young, and the stiff parallel veins removed, after 
which they are slit into shreds, but not separated at the stalk end, and 
immersed in boiling water for a short time, then bleached in the sun. 
CARYOPHYLLUS AROMATICUS.—This myrtaceous plant produces the 
well-known spice called cloves. It forms a beautiful evergreen, rising 
from twenty to thirty feet in height. The cloves of commerce are the 
unexpanded flower-buds; they are collected by beating the tree with 
rods, when the buds, from the jointed character of their stalks, readily 
fall, and are received on sheets spread on purpose; they are then dried 
in the sun. All parts of the plant are aromatic, from the presence of a 
volatile oil. The oil is sometimes used in toothache and as a carmina- 
tive in medicine. 
CARYOTA URENS.—This fine palm is a native of Ceylon, and is also 
found in other parts of India, where it supplies the native population 
with various important articles. Large quantities of toddy, or palm- 
wine, are prepared from the juice, which, when boiled, yields very good 
palm-sugar or jaggery, and also excellent sugar-candy. Sago is also 
prepared from the central or pithy part of the trunk, and forms a large 
portion of the food for the natives. The fiber from the leaf-stalks is of 
great strength; it is known as Kittul or Kittool fiber, and is used for 
making ropes, brushes, brooms, &c. A wooly kind of seurf, scraped oif 
the leaf-stalks, is used for calking boats, and the stem furnishes a 
small quantity of wood. 
CASIMIROA EDULIS.—A Mexican plant, belonging to the Orange fam- 
ily, with a fruit about the size of an ordinary orange, which has an 
agreeable taste, but is not considered to be wholesome. The seeds are 
poisonous ; the bark is bitter, and is sometimes used medicinally. 
CASSIA ACUTIFOLIA.—The Cassias belong to the leguminous family. 
The leaflets of this and some other species produce the well-known 
drug called senna. That known as the Alexandria senna is produced 
by the above. Hast Indian senna is produced by C. elongata. Aleppo 
senna is obtained from C. obovata. The native species, C. marylandica, 
possesses similar properties. The seeds of C. Absus, a native of Egypt, 
are bitter, aromatic and mucilaginous, and are used asa remedy for oph- 
thalmia. C. fistula is called the Pudding-Pipe tree, and furnishes the 
cassia-pods of commerce. The seeds of C. occidentalis, when roasted, are 
