TORCH OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 415 



Tonqnin Bean [Bijpteryx odorata)^ a hard -wooded tree of 

 the Bean family (Legnminosae), attaining a height of 60 to 80 

 feet, native of Guiana and Cayenne, having simple winged 

 leaves, and fruit-pods of an oval form, like an almond, each con- 

 taining one seed about an inch in length, which is fragrant, and 

 is used for scenting snuff and in perfumery — the fragrance heing 

 due to the presence of the piinciple known as Coumarin. 



Tontel (Tontelea pyriformis, or by some called Scdacia 

 pyriformis), a shrub of the family Hippocratese, native of Sierra 

 Leone. Its fruit is about the size and shape of a bergamot pear , 

 its flavour is very rich and sweet. In Brazil Scdacia d%dds pro- 

 duces a fruit the size of a crab apple ; it is yellowish in colour, 

 sweet and juicy, and according to Dr. Spruce is much ^aten by 

 the Indians on the Eio Negto, where it is called "Waiateima. 



Toona. {See Cedar, Indian.) 



Toothache Tree. — As might be expected, various plants have 

 obtained a reputation for the cure of toothache. The common 

 Toothache Tree is Zanthoxylum fraxineiim, a native of North 

 America, a small tree of the family Zanthoxylacese, introduced 

 into this country, and like most North American trees, is 

 hardy. 



Torch Thistles, a name early given to the erect columnar 

 species of the genus Cactus, and forming part of the section 

 Cereus of the family Cactace£e. Their stems are plain, cylindiical, 

 or ribbed and fluted, or of 4 to 5 or 6 sided, of which C. tetm- 

 gonus, 0. pentagonus, and 0. hexagonus are examples. They attain 

 a height of 20 to 30 feet, and with age lose their succulent 

 character, becoming hard and woody, and are used for house- 

 building and other purposes. These and other allied species are 

 found in more or less abundance from Chili in the south to 

 Mexico in the north. The fruit of many of them is like the 

 Indian fig, sweet and luscious. In G. Pitaya, native of Western 

 Mexico, the fruit is red, and when eaten in quantity they colour 

 the secretions of the body. C. senilis and G. giganteus are worthy 

 of special notice ; the first is a native of Mexico, in the district 

 of Eeal-del-Monte, where it grows in a hot valley called Terra 



