REMARKS ON THE GENUS TAMARINDUS. 
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epicarp of the pod is thin, and the acid pulp for which they are esteemed is the 
sarcocarp Tamarinds are preserved in two ways ; commonly by throwing hot 
water from the boilers on the ripe pulp ; but a better method is to put alternate 
layers of Tamarinds and powdered sugar in a stone jar. By this means the 
Tamarinds preserve their colour, and taste more agreeably. Preserved Tamarinds 
should be fresh and juicy, and should have an agreeable acid taste; they should 
not have a musty smell, the seeds should not be soft and swollen, and the blade of 
a knife should not get a coating of copper by being immersed among them. 
Tamarinds contain sugar, mucilage, citric acid, supertartrate of potass, tartaric 
acid, and malic acid. In medicine, the pulp of Tamarinds taken in the quantity 
of from two to three drachms to an ounce or more, proves gently laxative and 
purgative, and at the same time, by its acidity, quenches thirst and allays immo- 
derate heat. Dons General System of Gardening and Botany, Vol. 2. 
T. occidentalis, or West Indian Tama- 
rind, is a tree of much magnitude, attaining 
in a full grown specimen the height of from 
thirty to fifty feet, with branches in propor- 
tion. Its blossoms, which are produced in 
February, so much resemble the T. indica, 
that it will be unnecessary to mention them 
here. The difference in the two species is in 
the pods; in the West Indian species they are 
shorter and redder than those of the East 
Indian, but are inferior in quality. 
To grow these plants well, they must 
have the constant heat of the stove ; and, 
in their growing season, should have a good 
supply of water, both at the roots and over 
the branches. The soil for them should be 
rich and strong, composed of peat and loam, 
and a slight mixture of well rotted dung^ 
being careful to incorporate them thoroughly 
before using. They propagate with great facility by cuttings planted in a pot of 
sand, with a hand-glass placed over them in heat. But as seeds are annually received 
from abroad, the trouble of propagating them may be dispensed with, as better 
plants may be procured with less trouble from seeds. In sowing the seeds it must 
be observed, that in order to excite vegetation they must be raised in a hotbed, and 
as soon as the young plants have grown the length of two or three inches they 
should be put into separate pots, using the same soil as recommended for older 
plants. 
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