90 
TH ALA MI FLORAE. 
1. Adansonia digitata. Baobab , or Monkey Bread- 
fruit. 
A. Baobab, Gcertn. de Fruct. II. 253. t. 135. — A. digitata, 
Cav. diss. V. 298. t. 15. 
HAB. Cultivated. 
FL. June. 
The trunk is thickest at the base, where it is frequently 25 
feet in diameter. The leaves are composito-palmated, and are 
deciduous in the month of November, leaving, for a time, the 
branches bare. Flowers large, white. 
The Baobab is to be found in Senegal, and across Africa, as 
far as Abyssinia. It has been introduced into this Island, and 
may be frequently met with. It is the largest, and, according 
to Adanson, the longest lived of organic bodies. This Natural- 
ist found some trees in the Magdalene Islands, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Goree, which calculating, from some names inscribed 
on them, dated in the 14th and 15th centuries, must have survived 
upwards of 6000 years. Much has been said, respecting the 
valuable properties of different parts of this tree. The Negroes 
in Africa dry the young leaves, and mix them in a state of 
powder with a dish called couscou, prepared by stewing yams, 
or other similar roots with a small portion of animal food, in 
order to improve the flavour and taste. They are under the 
impression, that they have an effect in moderating excessive 
perspiration. Adanson states, that, during his residence in 
Africa, he took a pint of the infusion of the dried leaves every 
morning and evening; and he ascribes to this, his having es- 
caped fever and diarrhoea, from which his companions suffered 
severely. The bees in Abyssinia, according to Bruce, excavate 
the stems of the Baobab, and there build their hives ; and he 
states, that the honey is more esteemed, than what is procured 
from other situations. We are informed, that in Africa, the 
trunk, hollowed out, is employed as a coffin for persons of dis- 
tinction ; and that the bodies are by this means preserved, as 
if they had undergone the process of embalming. The fruit of 
the Baobab has received the name of the Monkey Bread-fruit, 
from its being a favourite food of that class of animals. It is 
about the size of a lemon, and of a deep brown colour: the 
cells are filled with an acid pulp, refreshing and agreeable to 
the taste, and forming with sugar a cooling drink ; resem- 
bling lemonade, and much recommended in fevers. It has been 
given, according to Goldberry, a traveller in Africa, diffused in 
milk or water, for hemoptysis, and mixed with tamarinds, for 
dysentery, and with gum for uterine discharges. We are in- 
formed by Dr Frank, that the caravans, which arrive at Cairo 
from Darfour and from Nubia, are always provided with a sup- 
ply of this fruit, lest dysentery should make its appearance. 
When a case occurs, the patient is immediately confined to a 
