48 BICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES BHANa 



Oochin China, the Malayan Peninsula and Islands. It is a 

 slender-stemmed lofty palm, with regular pinnate leaves and 

 long linear leaflets. Its fruits are produced on an erect spadix ; 

 each fruit is about the size of a hen's egg, covered with a thick, 

 fibrous rind, which envelopes a hard nut about the size of a 

 nutmeg. The nut is cut up into pieces, and rolled up in a leaf 

 of the Betel pepper, to which a little lime is added, and then 

 chewed — a custom common to the whole of the Indians and 

 Malayan races. It is said that many would forego their food 

 rather than the use of the Betel Nut. All carry a box contain- 

 ing the nut, leaf, and lime, which may be compared to the snuff- 

 box of other countries. The character of box varies according 

 to the means of the owner, those of the nobles being of gold, 

 and of higher dignitaries ornamented with diamonds. Ship- 

 loads of the nuts are yearly carried into countries where it is 

 not cultivated. It is considered to stimulate the digestive 

 organs. By its continual use the gums and mucous membrane 

 of the mouth become a brick-red colour, the teeth crumble to a 

 level with the gums, and when the teeth become worn out the 

 victims die longing for another quid. Thus chewing the Betel 

 Nut is somewhat similar in its effects to the chewing of tobacco. 



Bhang". {See Hemp.) 



Bigroot. {See Bitter-root, Californian.) 



Bikh, or Bish. {See Aconite.) 



Bilberry, or Blackberry ( Vaccinimn Myrtillus), Whortle- 

 berry ( V, ulig%noBum\ Cowberry ( F*. Vitis-idma), small shrubs of 

 the Cranberry family (Vacciniaceoe). They occupy vast tracts 

 in bogs and moorlands, and even the tops of mountains m 

 Scotland, and throughout Europe and North America. Their 

 berries are about the size of currants, the two first blue and the 

 last red. They are somewhat austere, but are made into a 

 preserve for tarts, etc., besides forming an article of food for 

 manymoorfowl. 



Bindweed, a name applied to the different species of the 

 genus Convolvidus, the type of the family Convolvulaceae, of 

 which there are many species. Two are natives of this country 



