THE CROW-BEERY FAMILY. 



263 



wood engraving, turnery, making matliematical instruments, 

 &c. The chief supply comes from ports in the Mediter- 

 ranean and Black Seas. The box, which forms the edges of 

 garden walks, is a dwarf variety of B. sempervirens. There 

 is a doubt if the Box Tree"* mentioned in Scripture is the 

 same as this plant, or a species of Pine, but there is some 

 reason to suppose that the " benches made of ivory"! were 

 of boxwood. 



Turnsole {Croton (Crozophora) tinctoria). An annual, 

 6 to 12 inches in height, native of the south of Europe. In 

 France and other parts it is cultivated for the sake of a dye 

 called "turnsole," which is obtained by bruising the whole 

 plant. 



Another kind of dye is obtained from Eottlera tinctoria^ 

 a tree common throughout the Madras Presidency. It con- 

 sists of a powder which covers the capsules, and is scraped 

 off when ripe ; it is of a red colour, and forms a considerable 

 article of trade at Hyderabad and other parts of the Circars. 

 It dyes silk a beautiful orange colour, also, by a diffe- 

 rent process, scarlet. The powder has been introduced into 

 this country as a vermifuge, and is known under the name 

 of Kamala. 



The Crow-berry Family. 



(EMPETRACEiE.) 



Shrubs with heath-like leaves and inconspicuous flowers. 

 The family consists of 4 species, represented in Europe 

 by the " Crow-berry," by some called " Crake-berry" 

 (Empetrum nigrum), a shrub not exceeding a foot in 

 height, growing abundantly in the north of Scotland, where 

 its berries form a considerable portion of the food of the 

 "moor-fowl;" they are said to be wholesome, and eaten by 

 the Laplanders. In Siberia a drink similar to lemonade is 

 made from them. Allied to it is Corema (Empetrum) lusi- 



* Isaiah, chap. xli. ver. 19 ; and chap. Ix. ver. 13. 

 f Ezekiel, chap, xxvii. ver. 6. 



