XIII. THE LEATHER WOOD. 320 
used in place of allspice. In Pennsylvania, a decoction of the 
branches is often used as a medicinal drink for homed cattle in 
the spring of the year.—Darlington. 
T'wo or more species of Benzoin are found in the Southern 
States. Nuttall proposed, while the Sassafras and Benzoin were 
still united with Laurus, to separate them from the other spe- 
cles, and unite them in one genus Euosmus. 
FAMILY XII. THE MEZEREUM FAMILY. THYMELA‘CER. 
LinDLEY. 
This contains shrubby plants wanting a corolla, but hav- 
ing a corolla-like, colored calyx, and a very tough bark. The 
calyx is tubular, with its border usually four-cleft, and with 
four or eight stamens, growing from its tube. Most of the 
plants belong to the Cape of Good Hope and Australia; many 
are found in the cooler parts of India and South America; a 
few in Europe and Middle Asia; a single genusis found in 
North America. 
The plants of this family are distinguished for an acrid or 
caustic principle in the bark. When chewed, it produces a burn- 
ing sensation in the mouth, and, taken into the stomach, causes 
heat and vomiting, or purging. Applied externally, it slowly 
produces a blister. The bark is made up of interlaced fibres of 
great strength, from which cordage has been made. A sort of 
natural lace is formed of it, in the Lagetta, or Lace Bark of 
Jamaica. In Nepaul, paper has been manufactured from it. 
A yellow dye for wool is formed from two plants of this family, 
in the south of Europe. 
THE LEATHER WOOD. DIRCA PALUSTRIS. UL. 
Figured in Bigelow’s Medical Botany, Plate 38. 
This is a much branched shrub, from three to five or six feet 
in height. The tough, flexible, dichotomous branches which 
come from the bottom of the stem, have a horizontal tendency, 
