THE PLANT BUTE A. 471 



Pistil: Germ fhort, thick, pedicelled, lanced, doWny. 

 Style afcending, a little larger than the filaments. 

 Stigma finall,. glandulous. 



Pericarp, legume pedicelled, large, pendulous ,, all, but the apex where the 

 feed is lodged, leafy, downy, about fix inches long by two broad, never 

 opening of itfelf. 



Seed one, lodged at the point of the legume, oval, much comprefTed, 

 fmooth, brown, from an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half long and 

 about one, broad.. 



From natural fifiures, and wounds made in the bark of this tree, during 

 the hot feafon, there ifiues a molt, beautiful red juice, which foon hardens 

 into a ruby-coloured brittle aflringent gum ; but it foon lofes its beautiful co- 

 lour, if expofed to the air : to preferve the colour, it muft be gathered as foon 

 as it becomes hard, and kept clofely corked up in. a bottle. 



This gum, held in a flame of a candle, fwella and burns away flowly, with- 

 out finell or the leafl flame, into a coal, and then into fine light white afhes : 

 held in the mouth it foon diffolves; it taftes ftrongly, but limply, aflringent ; heat 

 does not foften it, but rather renders it more brittle j pure water diffolves it 

 perfectly : the folution is of a deep red colour j it is in a great meafure foluble 

 in fpirits, but this folution is paler, and a little turbid, the watery folution 

 alfo becomes turbid when fpirit is added, and the fpirituous more clear by 

 the addition of water -, diluted vitriolic acid renders both folutbns turbid* 

 mild cauftic vegetable alkali changes the colour of the watery folution to a 



