134 MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF THE CASHEW-NUT TREE. 
ART. XXVIII.— ON THE MEDICAL AND ECONOMICAL PRO. 
PERTIES OF THE ANACARDIUM OCCIDENTALE, OR 
CASHEW-NUT TREE. 
By W. Hamilton, M. B. 
The cashew-nut tree, or Anacardium occidental, must 
not be confounded, from the resemblance it bears to the 
vulgar name of common cashaws, with trees of a widely- 
different character belonging to the genus Acacia, of which 
I may perhaps have occasion hereafter to take some notice. 
The Anacardium occidentale is known in various parts 
of the West Indies by a considerable diversity of names, of 
which the most frequent are, Acajou and Pommier 
d'Jlcajou in the French, and cashew apple (evidently a 
corruption of the French,) and cherry-tree, in the English 
islands. It is a handsome spreading tree of about twenty 
feet in height, of quick growth, coming into bearing in the 
second year from the time of sowing the seed, and continu- 
ing to bear fruit for fifty, or even, in some instances, one 
hundred years. Its timber is hard, close grained, and dura- 
ble, applicable to many useful purposes. Its trunk and 
branches yield, on being wounded, during the monthly as- 
cent of the sap, a white and transparent gum, similar in 
appearance to that of the Acacia vera or gum arabic. Of 
this gum, which is subastringent, and furnishes a good sub- 
stitute for gum arabic, a full grown tree will yield an an- 
nual amount of ten or twelve pounds. This gum, being 
unpalatable to insects, is particularly adapted for use where 
their depredations require to be guarded against. By tap- 
ping the trunk, a milky juice is obtained which stains linen 
of a durable black, and might serve as a marking ink. 
Three varieties occur, one with red, another with yellow 
fruit, and a third with fruit streaked with red and yellow. 
