Meliaceae. 123 
of the leaves has been used in hysteria, also externally against 
leprosy. The fruit is considered poisonous. The natives of India 
wear a necklace of them to avert contagion. The root bark of the 
tree is used as an anthelmintic in the United States. It is bitter and 
nauseous to the taste and gives up its properties to boiling water. 
The sap wood is yellowish white, the heartwood red. and soft, it 
is handsomely marked and takes a fine polish. 
The tree has been planted in the Hawaiian Islands to a great 
extent mainly in the uplands as on Maui, Hawaii and Kauai, on the 
latter Island the birds have spread the drupes and thus the tree has 
become naturalized and has spread considerably. In Honolulu the 
tree can occasionally be met with, having been planted for ornamental 
purposes. It is the China berry tree of the southern and western 
States of the Union. 
Azadirachta indica A. Juss. 
Xeem or Nim Tree. 
The Neem Tree is a large evergreen glabrous tree with hard 
red heartwood. The leaves are alternate and odd pinnate with 
seven to nine pairs of leaflets which are serrate, the odd leaflet 
often wanting. The flowers are white, strongly honey-scented, and 
arranged in axillary panicles which are shorter than the leaf. The 
drupe is the size of an olive, first yellow but afterwards becoming 
purple, it is one-celled and one-seeded. 
The Xeem is a native of Burmah growing wild in dry regions 
of the Irrawady Valley but is cultivated throughout India and else- 
where in the tropics. It is one of the commonest trees planted in 
India especially the northern and northwestern provinces where the 
writer saw it extensively used along the Grand Trunk Road which 
leads from Bengal to Peshawar. It is planted by the natives near 
dwellings with the belief that its presence improves materially the 
health of a community. 
A gum which the tree exudes is esteemed as a stimulant. The 
seeds, by boiling or pressure, yield a fixed acrid bitter oil of a deep 
yellow color, which is employed medicinally as an anthelmintic and 
antiseptic, and by the poorer classes of India for burning in lamps. 
The natives of India cook the leaves with other vegetables in the 
form of curry or eat them parched. They are also used to protect 
cloth, paper and books from the ravages of insects. The tree is held 
sacred by the Hindus who believe that by eating the leaves they 
acquire freedom from disease. 
