Chapter V: Front Matter (5)

119. _ROSE-WOOD_ (Amyris balsamifera) _is an odoriferous tree, with
smooth oval leaves, which grows in the Island of Jamaica._

The _wood_ of this tree is much used by cabinet-makers in this country for the covering or veneering of tables and other furniture. Its grain is of dark colour, and very beautiful. This tree yields an odoriferous _balsam_, which is much esteemed, both as an external application for the cure of wounds, and an internal medicine in various diseases.

120. _The COMMON MAPLE_ (Acer campestre) _is a low kind of tree, common
in woods and hedges, which has its leaves in lobes, blunt, and notched,
and green flowers in upright clusters._

By the Romans, the maple _wood_, when knotty and veined, was often highly prized for furniture. The poet Virgil speaks of Evander sitting on a maple throne. The knots of this wood were considered to resemble the figure of birds, beasts, and other animals: and when boards, large enough for tables, were found of this curious part of it, the extravagance of purchasers is said to have been incredible. Indeed its value, in that madly luxurious age, is stated to have been such, that, when, at any time, the Romans reproached their wives for their extravagance in pearls, jewels, or other rich trifles, the latter were accustomed to retort, and turn the _tables_ upon their husbands. Hence our expression of "turning the tables" upon any person is said to have been derived.

With us the maple tree is used by turners, particularly for making cups, which may be rendered so thin as to be almost transparent. This wood, where it is devoid of knots, is remarkably white, and is sometimes used for domestic furniture. On account of its lightness it is frequently employed for musical instruments, and particularly for those of the violin kind.

121. _SUGAR MAPLE_ (Acer saccharinum) _is a North-American tree, which
grows to the height of fifty or sixty feet, and has somewhat hand-shaped
leaves, in five divisions, notched at the edges, and downy underneath._

This large and beautiful tree is much cultivated in America on account chiefly of the _juice_ which it yields, and which is made into sugar. The process of obtaining the juice is, in the spring of the year, to bore holes about two inches deep into the tree, and to put into each of these holes a projecting spout, by which it may be conveyed into troughs placed to receive it. Each tree will afford from twenty to thirty gallons of juice, from which may be obtained five or six pounds of sugar. The juice is clear, of pleasant flavour; and, in its simple state, is sometimes drunk as a remedy against the scurvy. The sugar, which is obtained from it by evaporation, is clean to the eye, and very sweet, but it has a peculiar, though not unpleasant taste. It may be clarified and refined in the same manner as the common sugars. The juice of the maple furnishes also a pleasant wine, and a very excellent vinegar.

The _wood_ of this tree is valuable as timber, and is also well adapted for turnery and cabinet ware, more particularly as it is said not to be liable to suffer by the depredations of insects.

Possessing these properties, and being sufficiently hardy to sustain the rigours even of a cold climate, its culture, in our own country, would be attended with great advantage, and cannot be too strongly recommended.

122. _The SYCAMORE_ (Acer pseudoplatanus, Fig. 70) _is a handsome tree of
British growth, which has leaves in five lobes unequally serrated; and
green flowers in pendant clusters._

It is peculiarly deserving of remark concerning this tree, that it grows better near the sea than in any other situation, and that plantations of sycamores may be so made as even to defend the herbage of the adjacent country from the spray, and consequently from the injurious effects of the sea. Its growth is quick, yet it will increase in size until it is two hundred years old. The soil in which it best flourishes is a loose black earth. The only inconveniences attending it in plantations is the early shedding of its leaves.

In the spring of the year the inhabitants of some parts of Scotland bore holes through the bark of the sycamore, at the distance of about twelve inches from the root, and suffer the _juice_ to drain into vessels, to the amount of eight or nine quarts a day from each tree. This liquor they convert into a kind of wine; and, if the watery part were evaporated, a useful sugar might be obtained from it.

The _wood_ of the sycamore is soft and white, and was formerly much in request by turners, for making trenchers, dishes, bowls, and other articles; but, since the general introduction of earthen-ware for all these purposes, its value has greatly decreased.

123. _CRANBERRIES are a small red fruit with purple dots, produced by a
slender wiry plant_ (Vaccinium oxycoccos), _which grows in the peaty bogs
of several parts of the north of England, and also in Norfolk,
Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire._

_The leaves are small, somewhat oval, and rolled back at the edges, and
the stem is thread-shaped and trailing. The blossoms are small, but
beautiful, each consisting of four distinct petals rolled back to the
base, and of deep flesh colour._

The collecting of cranberries is a tiresome and disagreeable employment, as each berry, which seldom exceeds the size of a pea, grows on a separate stalk, and the morasses in which they grow are frequently very deep. Cranberries are much used in the northern counties, and great quantities of them are bottled and sent to London. So considerable a traffic in this fruit is carried on, that, at Longtown in Cumberland, the amount of a market day's sale, during the season for gathering it, is stated by Dr. Withering to be from 20_l._ to 30_l._ Cranberries begin to ripen about the month of August, and continue in perfection for some weeks.

They are much used in confectionary, but particularly in tarts; their rich flavour being very generally esteemed. The usual mode of preserving them is in dry bottles, corked so closely as to exclude all access of the external air: some persons, however, fill up the bottles with spring water. Others prepare this fruit with sugar. From the juice of cranberries, mixed with a certain portion of sugar, and properly fermented, a grateful and wholesome wine may be made. The inhabitants of Sweden use this fruit only for the cleaning of silver plate.

A considerable quantity of cranberries is annually imported, into this country, from North America and Russia. These are larger than our own, of a different species, and by no means of so pleasant flavour.

124. There are three other species of fruit belonging to the cranberry tribe, which grow wild in this country, on heaths or in woods. These are BILBERRIES, or BLEA-BERRIES (_Vaccinium myrtillus_), which are occasionally eaten in milk, and in tarts, and which afford a violet-coloured dye: GREAT BILBERRIES (_V. uliginosum_), which, in France, are sometimes employed to tinge white wines red: and RED WHORTLE-BERRIES (_V. vitis idæa_), which, though not of very grateful flavour, are occasionally used in tarts, rob, and jelly.

125. _The COMMON HEATH, or LING_ (Erica vulgaris), _is a well-known
plant, with numerous small rose-coloured flowers, which grows wild on
heaths and mountainous wastes, in nearly every part of England._

The principal use to which the heath is applied is for making brooms or besoms. It is likewise bound into fagots, and employed as fuel, particularly for ovens; and is, not unfrequently, employed in the filling up of drains, and the morassy parts of roads, previously to their being covered with earth, stones, and other durable materials. In the Highlands of Scotland, the poorer inhabitants make walls, for their cottages, with alternate layers of heath and a kind of mortar made of black earth and straw: they likewise thatch their cabins with it, and make their beds of it. The inhabitants of Islay, one of the western islands of Scotland, are said to brew a wholesome kind of beer from one part of malt, and two parts of the young tops of heath. The _stalks_ and _tops_ may be rendered of considerable service in the tanning of leather; and in dyeing woollen cloth an orange colour. Bees are partial to the _flowers_; but the honey which they form, after having fed upon these flowers, acquires a reddish tint. The _leaves_ and _seeds_ of heath afford a grateful food to grouse, and other animals.

TRIGYNIA.

126. _BUCKWHEAT, or BRANK, is a black and triangular grain, produced by a
plant of the persicaria tribe_ (Polygonum fagopyrum), _with somewhat
arrow-shaped leaves, and purplish white flowers._

Although buckwheat may now be considered as in some degree naturalized in this country, and as growing wild near our fields and dunghills, it was originally introduced from the northern parts of Asia, and was first cultivated here about the year 1600. The flowers appear about July, and the seeds ripen in October; and so tender are the plants, that a single night's sharp frost will destroy a whole crop.

As a grain, buckwheat has been principally cultivated for oxen, swine, and poultry; and although some farmers state that a single bushel of it is equal in quality to two bushels of oats, others assert that it is a very unprofitable food. Mixed with bran, chaff, or grains, it is sometimes given to horses. The flower of buckwheat is occasionally used for bread, but more frequently for the thin cakes called crumpets. In Germany it serves as an ingredient in pottage, puddings, and other food. Beer may be brewed from it; and, by distillation, it yields an excellent spirit.

The best mode of harvesting this grain is said to be by pulling it out of the ground like flax, stripping off the seeds by the hand, and collecting these into aprons, or cloths tied round the waist.

Buckwheat is much cultivated in the domains of noblemen and gentlemen possessed of landed property, as a food for pheasants. With some farmers it is the practice to sow buckwheat for the purpose only of ploughing it into the ground, as a manure for the land. Whilst green, it serves as food for sheep and oxen; and, mixed with other provender, it may also be given, with advantage to horses. The _blossoms_ may be used for dyeing a brown colour.

The principal advantage of buckwheat is, that it is capable of being cultivated upon land which will produce scarcely any thing else, and that its culture, comparatively with that of other grain, is attended with little expense.

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CLASS IX.--ENNEANDRIA.

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MONOGYNIA.

127. _CINNAMON is the under bark of the branches of a tree of the bay
tribe_ (Laurus cinnamomum, Fig. 40,) _which is chiefly found in the
island of Ceylon, but which also grows in Malabar and other parts of the
East Indies._

_This tree attains the height of twenty or thirty feet. Its leaves are
oval, each from four to six inches long, and marked with three principal
nerves. The flowers stand on slender footstalks, and are of pale yellow
colour; and the fruit is somewhat shaped like an acorn._

There are two principal seasons of the year in which the Ceylonese enter their woods for the purpose of barking the cinnamon trees. The first of these commences in April, and the last in November: but the former is that in which the great crop is obtained. In this operation the branches of three years' growth are cut down, and the outside pellicle of the bark is scraped away. The twigs are then ripped up lengthways with a knife, and the bark is gradually loosened till it can be entirely taken off. It is then cut into slices, which, on being exposed to the sun, curl up in drying. The smaller pieces or quills, as they are called, are inserted into the larger ones, and the whole are afterwards tied into bundles.

Cinnamon is examined and arranged, according to its quality, by persons who, for this purpose, are obliged to taste and chew it. This is a very troublesome and disagreeable work; and few persons are able to continue it more than two or three days successively, as the cinnamon deprives the tongue and lips of all the mucus with which they are covered. After this examination, the bundles are made up to the length of about four feet, and weight of eighty-eight pounds each.

From the roots of the trees numerous offsets shoot up. These, when they have attained the height of about ten feet, are cut down and barked, being then about the thickness of a common walking-stick. The cinnamon which they yield is much finer than any other.

A French ship, bound in 1782, from the island of Bourbon, to Cape François in St. Domingo, and having on board various oriental productions, the cinnamon tree among the rest, was taken by the late Admiral Rodney, who presented the trees to the assembly of Jamaica; and, from this parent stock, different parts of that island were afterwards supplied. In Ceylon the cinnamon trees are said to be so common as to be used for fuel and other domestic purposes.

The smell of cinnamon, particularly of the thinnest pieces, is delightfully fragrant; and its taste is pungent and aromatic, with considerable sweetness and astringency. If infused in boiling water in a covered vessel, it gives out much of its grateful flavour, and forms an agreeable liquid. An oil is extracted from cinnamon, which is heavier than water. This is prepared in Ceylon, and almost wholly from the small and broken pieces. It is, however, obtained in such small quantity that the oil of cassia (128) is generally substituted for it. Indeed the cassia bark is often substituted for cinnamon, to which it has considerable resemblance, although, in its qualities, it is much weaker, and although it is immediately distinguishable by its slimy taste.

The virtues of cinnamon are not confined to the bark. The _leaves_, the _fruit_, and the _root_ all yield oil of considerable value. That from the fruit is highly fragrant, of thick consistence, and, in Ceylon, was formerly made into candles for the exclusive use of the king.

128. _WILD CINNAMON, or CASSIA, is the bark of a tree of the bay tribe_
(Laurus cassia), _which grows in the East Indies and China, and is
distinguished by having spear-shaped leaves, each with three nerves._

This _bark_ was well known to the ancients, and highly esteemed by them: but, since the use of cinnamon has been generally adopted, the cassia bark has fallen into disrepute on account of its inferiority. It is thicker and more coarse than cinnamon, of weaker quality, and abounds more with a viscid mucilaginous matter. For many purposes, however, cassia, as being much less expensive, is substituted for cinnamon, but more particularly for the preparation of what is called oil of cinnamon: and nearly the whole of what is at present sold under the name either of simple or spirituous cinnamon water is prepared from cassia.

The _buds_, as well as the _bark_, of this tree are used in culinary preparations, and for several other purposes. They are chiefly imported from China.

129. _CAMPHOR is a white resinous production of peculiar and powerful
smell, which is extracted from two or three kinds of trees of the bay
tribe that grow in the islands of the East Indies, and in China._

_Of these the principal is_ Laurus camphora (Fig. 41). _It is of
considerable height, much branched, and has spear-shaped leaves, with
nerves, of pale yellowish green colour on the upper side, and bluish
green beneath. The flowers are small and white, and stand on stalks which
issue from the junction of the leaves and branches._

Camphor is found in every part of the trees; in the interstices of the perpendicular fibres, and in veins of the wood; in the crevices and knots, in the pith, and in the roots. The modes by which it is extracted differ in different countries. In Borneo and Sumatra, the largest pieces are picked out with sharp instruments; and the smaller ones are procured by rasps, to which, along with bits of wood and other impurities, they adhere. The Chinese cut off the branches, chop them very small, and place them in spring water for some days. They then put them into a kettle, and boil them for a certain time, during which they keep constantly stirring them with a stick. As soon as the camphor, in a white and frosted appearance, is observed to adhere to the stick, the whole is strained. The liquor is subsequently poured into a basin, and, after some hours, the camphor coagulates into a solid mass.

In Japan it is usual to obtain camphor by cutting the roots and extremities of the branches into chips, and exposing them to the steam of water in close vessels. In other countries the roots, wood, and leaves, are all boiled in large iron pots, having a kind of tubular apparatus, which is stuffed with straw, and leads to certain large vessels called receivers. In this operation most of the camphor becomes condensed in a solid form amongst the straw; and the remainder passes with the water into the receiver.

In a crude state camphor is formed into irregular lumps of yellowish grey colour, somewhat resembling nitre, or saltpetre. It is imported into Europe in canisters; and the refining of it was long kept a secret by the Venetians. The Dutch have since performed this work; and large quantities of camphor are now also refined by some of the English chemists. The best camphor is imported from Sumatra.

The principal use of this drug is in medicine; and it was formerly in high repute. Dr. Cullen says that it has been employed with advantage in fevers of almost all kinds: but, since the free use of opium has been introduced, camphor has been little employed in this country, though its utility has been fully established by some of the most eminent practitioners of the Continent. It has often been found to relieve tooth-ache and rheumatism. Several preparations of camphor, in combination with other substances, are used in medicine, of which, perhaps, the most common is that with spirit of wine. To insects the effluvium of camphor is so disagreeable that they quickly avoid it. Hence it is customary to place pieces of it in collections of natural history, to prevent their destruction by these voracious little creatures.

For carpenters' work the _wood_ of the camphor tree is much in request. It is light and durable; and, in consequence of long retaining its aromatic smell, is not liable to be injured by insects.

Plants of the camphor and cinnamon trees were captured, from the French, in 1782, by Admiral Rodney, and afterwards conveyed to Jamaica, and propagated there.

Several shrubs and plants of our own country contain camphor in considerable quantity. The principal of these are _rosemary_, _sage_, _lavender_, and _marjoram_.

130. _The COMMON SWEET BAY_ (Laurus nobilis) _is an evergreen shrub,
which grows in Italy and other southern parts of Europe, and is
principally celebrated as that which was anciently used to form the crown
of victory among poets._

_Its leaves are of shining green colour, somewhat spear-shaped, and often
waved towards the edge. The flowers appear in April and May, in clusters
of three or four together on short footstalks. The corolla is in four
segments of yellowish white colour, and is succeeded by an oval berry
covered with a dark green rind._

This handsome shrub is common in our gardens and shrubberies. Its _leaves_ afford, by distillation, an useful oil, which is occasionally employed in medicine. They are also employed, in cookery, to flavour custards, puddings, stews, and pickles; and Dr. Woodville assures us that they may thus be used not only with safety, but even with advantage, as assisting digestion.

The _berries_ or fruit of the bay tree, which have an aromatic smell, and a warm, bitterish, and pungent taste, were much used by the ancient Romans for culinary purposes. We import them chiefly from the coasts of the Mediterranean. From the berries, in a recent state, the people of Spain and Italy obtain, by pressure, a green aromatic oil, which is employed in medicine, externally, as a stimulant in nervous, paralytic, and other disorders.

131. _The ALLIGATOR PEAR is a pear-shaped fruit, produced by a species of
bay tree_ (Laurus persea), _that is much cultivated in the West Indies._

_This tree, which is an evergreen, has a straight stem, and grows to a
considerable height. Its leaves are somewhat oval, leathery, transversely
veined, and of beautiful green colour; and the flowers grow in bunches._

To the inhabitants of the West Indian islands, particularly the negroes, this _fruit_, which ripens in the months of August and September, is an agreeable, and, in some respects, an important article of diet. When ripe the pulp is of yellow colour, of consistence somewhat harder than that of butter, and, in taste, not much unlike marrow. The negroes frequently make their meals of these pears, a little salt, and plantains; and they are occasionally served up at the tables of the white people as fruit.

Their exterior surface is covered with a green skin; and in the centre there is a large round seed or _stone_, extremely hard and woody, with an uneven surface. This stone is used for the marking of linen. The cloth is held or tied over the stone; and the letters are pricked by a needle, through the cloth, into the outer covering of the stone. By this means it is stained of an indelible reddish brown colour, in the direction along which the needle has passed. The _leaves_ are used by the negroes medicinally.

132. _SASSAFRAS is the wood of a North American tree of the bay tribe_
(Lauras sassafras), _and is imported into Europe in long straight pieces,
which are of light and porous texture, and covered with a rough fungous
bark._

_This tree is sometimes twenty or thirty feet high. The branches are
crooked, and the leaves various, both in form and size, some of them
being oval and entire, and others having two or three lobes. They are
pale green, and downy beneath. The flowers, which are of a dingy yellow
colour, appear in pendant spikes._

This _wood_ has a fragrant smell, and an aromatic and somewhat acrid, though sweetish taste, that are also observable in the _bark_, the smaller _twigs_, and the _roots_, all of which are imported into this country as well as the wood. Infusions and decoctions of sassafras are frequently taken as a medicine for improving the tone of the stomach and bowels, in persons whose humours are in a vitiated state. Soon after its introduction into Europe, in the year 1560, this medicine was in such high repute as to be sold, on the Continent, at the rate of fifty livres per pound; and its virtues were extolled in numerous publications that were written on the subject. It is, however, now considered of little importance; and sassafras is seldom employed but in conjunction with other medicines, which, in their nature, are more powerful. Infusions of sassafras are sold in the streets of London, under the name of _saloop_.

We are informed that, in many parts of America, where the sassafras trees not only grow in great numbers in the woods, but are planted along the fences of enclosures, it is not unusual to make bed-posts of the wood, for the purpose of expelling bugs. Its powerful scent drives away these disagreeable insects; and some persons put chips of sassafras into their wardrobes and chests, to prevent the attack of moths. This wood serves for the posts of enclosures, to which, by its lasting nature in the ground, it is peculiarly adapted.

The _bark_ of the sassafras tree is used by the American women for dyeing worsted, which it does of a permanent and beautiful orange colour.

133. _The CASHEW NUT is a small kidney-formed nut, which grows at the
extremity of a somewhat pear-shaped Indian fruit._

_The tree which produces it_ (Anacardium occidentale, Fig. 42) _somewhat
resembles a walnut tree in shape, as well as in the smell of its leaves,
which are leathery, somewhat oval and shining. The flowers are red, and
sweet-scented._

The size of this _fruit_ is nearly that of a large pear, and the colour of its pulp is sometimes yellow and sometimes red. The singularity of its form, with a nut or stone at the extremity, instead of the centre, generally excites the surprise of persons when they first see it. In a ripe state the fruit is sometimes roasted, cut in slices, and used as an agreeable acid in punch. Its juice, when fermented, is made into wine; and, on distillation, yields a spirit which some persons prefer even to rum.

The _nuts_ are each enclosed in two shells, connected together by a cellular substance, which contains a thick, inflammable, and very caustic oil. The kernels of these nuts have a peculiarly sweet and pleasant flavour, and are eaten either raw or roasted, and sometimes even pickled. It is said that the negroes of Brazil, who eat of these nuts as part of their sustenance, find them peculiarly wholesome, and that they are relieved, by the use of them, from various disorders of the stomach. They are also used in medicine, as almonds; and, when ground with the chocolate nut, they greatly improve its flavour. Cashew nuts may be kept, without any great alteration of their quality, for many years. If the shells be broken, and the nuts be laid for a little while on the fire, they open of themselves; and the kernels being taken out, the thin brown skin which covers them must be removed previously to their being eaten. It is necessary to be cautious, respecting the oil, that it do not come in contact with the mouth or lips; as, in such case, it would inflame and excoriate them.

The _oil_ of the cashew nut is sometimes applied, by the inhabitants of the West Indies (though much caution is requisite in the use of it) as a means of corroding cancerous ulcers, corns, and ring-worms; and some of the West Indian ladies, when they imagine themselves too much tanned by the scorching rays of the sun, cut off the outer shell of the nut, and rub the oil upon their faces as a cosmetic. The immediate consequences of this extraordinary operation are swelling and blackness of the parts; and, in five or six days, the whole skin peels off, leaving the face so sore and tender, that it is impossible for the person using it to appear abroad in less than a fortnight; by which time the new skin is sufficiently hardened, and is as fair as that of a newly-born infant. There are, however, few British females who would consent to be thus flayed alive for the sake of rendering themselves fair. This oil tinges linen a permanent rusty iron colour.

From the Cashew nut tree a milky _juice_ is obtained, by tapping or incision, which stains, of a deep black colour, whatever it touches. The fine black varnish so much used in China and Japan is the resinous juice of a tree called _fsi-chu_, which is conjectured to be the cashew nut tree.

TRIGYNIA.

134. _The TRUE or OFFICINAL RHUBARB_ (Rheum palmatum) _is a medicinal
root which grows wild in various parts of Asia._

_The leaves which issue from this root are large, and deeply cut into
lobes; and the whole plant has a general resemblance to what in our
country are called docks. The stem is erect and six or seven feet high.
The leaves stand on footstalks, that are somewhat grooved above, and
rounded at the edge. Those which proceed from the stalk supply at the
joints a kind of membraneous sheaths. The flowers terminate the branches
in clusters._

The importance and the properties of this _root_ in medicine are universally known. Rhubarb is usually imported from Turkey, but it is occasionally also brought from Russia, China, and the East Indies. Dr. Woodville states that the _Turkey rhubarb_ is brought over in oblong pieces, flattish on one side, and rounded on the other; and that it is compact, hard, heavy, and internally of a dull colour, variegated with yellow and white. The _Chinese rhubarb_ is in roundish pieces, each with a large hole through the centre. It is softer than the former, and exhibits, when broken, many streaks of bright red colour.

In some of the mountains of Tartary, rhubarb plants are found in great abundance. The roots, when first dug out of the ground, are thick, fleshy, externally of yellowish brown colour, and internally of bright yellow streaked with red veins. When they have attained sufficient size, they are dug up and cleansed; and the small fibres and the rind being cut off, they are divided into pieces of proper size. Each piece is then perforated in the middle, and they are strung on cords in such manner as not to touch each other, and are suspended to dry, either upon adjacent trees, or in the tents.

The sum expended for the importation of this drug is said to exceed 200,000_l._ per annum, a great proportion of which, it is presumed, might be saved to the country by cultivation of the plants in Great Britain. This was first attempted, about sixty years ago, by Dr. Hope, in the botanic garden at Edinburgh, and with such success as to prove that the climate even of Scotland would be no obstacle to its increase. In 1791, Sir William Fordyce received from the Society for Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, a gold medal, for having raised more than 300 plants of the true rhubarb from seed. And, in 1783, Mr. Davis, of Minehead, in Somersetshire, brought to perfection as many plants as yielded three hundred pounds' weight of dried rhubarb. Since this period, rhubarb has been grown, in different parts of England, to great extent; and has so far flourished, that some of the roots have weighed seventy pounds and upwards. The principal difficulty has attended the curing of it; but this, after numerous experiments, has at length been performed in such manner, that the English drug has been found equal, or nearly equal, to that which is imported from Turkey and China.

The _bark_ of rhubarb has been used for tinctures, and found, in every respect, as efficacious as the best part of the roots: and the _seeds_ possess nearly the same qualities. The _leaves_ impart an agreeable acidity, somewhat similar to that of sorrel; and a marmalade, which may, with advantage, be adopted for children, is made from the fresh _stalks_, by stripping off the bark, and boiling the pulp with an equal quantity of sugar.

135. _The COMMON RHUBARB_ (Rheum rhaponticum), _is a plant which is
cultivated in kitchen gardens, and has large, blunt and smooth leaves,
and the leaf-stalks furrowed on the upper side, and rounded at the edge._

This species of rhubarb grows wild on the mountains of Rhodope, in Thrace, whence it was first propagated in other parts of Europe, about the year 1630. It is chiefly in request for the _footstalks of the leaves_, which are used, (in the early part of the year, when there is little fruit) for pies and tarts. The _root_ has some of the qualities of the true rhubarb, and has occasionally been imposed upon purchasers for that drug.

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CLASS X.--DECANDRIA.

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MONOGYNIA.

136. _SENNA is a drug, the dried leaves of an annual plant_ (Cassia
senna) _which grows in various parts of Africa and Asia._

_The stems of this plant are woody, and not unlike those of a shrub. The
leaves are winged, and the leaflets oval, smooth, and pointed. The
flowers, which grow in lengthened clusters, and are of pale yellow
colour, are succeeded by oblong, compressed, and kidney-shaped pods._

The cultivation of senna is carried on to considerable extent in Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and Upper Egypt, from several of which countries it has, from time immemorial, been brought by the caravans to Alexandria, as the most convenient port whence it could be shipped or sold into Europe. From this circumstance, it is sometimes denominated _Alexandrian senna_. The process of stripping and drying the leaves is perfectly simple. When dried, they are of a yellowish green colour, have a faint, though not unpleasant smell, and a somewhat acrid, bitterish, and nauseous taste.

These leaves have long been in use in Eastern countries as a medicine; and their repute, though not so great as in the East, is very considerable in Europe. They are administered in various ways; and the _pods_ have the same effect as the leaves.

A kind of senna has of late been cultivated, with success, in Italy and some of the southern parts of France.

137. _The OFFICINAL CASSIA is a somewhat cylindrical pod, about an inch
in diameter, and a foot or more in length, the fruit of a tree_ (Cassia
fistula) _which is cultivated in Egypt, the East and West Indies, and
South America._

_This tree is forty or fifty feet high, and much branched. Its leaves are
winged, with five pair of leaflets, somewhat oval, pointed, smooth, and
of pale green colour. The flowers are large, yellow, and grow in oblong
clusters. The pods are divided, by transverse partitions, into numerous
cells, each containing one seed._

These pods are in request on account of the black, sweetish, but somewhat acid _pulp_, which is contained in their cells, and which is used, in many cases, as a mild opening medicine. It is customary in Egypt to pluck the pods before they are quite ripe, and to place them in a house, from which the external air is, as much as possible, excluded. They are then laid in beds about six inches deep, having palm leaves interposed betwixt them. On the two following days the whole are sprinkled with water; and, in the course of about six weeks, they are in a fit state to be packed for sale.

The East Indian and West Indian cassia somewhat differ, both in appearance and qualities. Of the former the pods are smoother, smaller, and have a thinner rind; and the pulp is of a deeper shining black colour, sweeter, and more agreeable to the taste. In choosing cassia, those pods should be selected which are the heaviest, and in which the seeds do not rattle on being shaken.

138. _LIGNUM VITÆ and GUIACUM are the wood and resin of a large West
Indian tree_ (Guiacum officinale, Fig. 77) _which has winged leaves in
two sets upon one footstalk, and regular flowers of five petals._

_The usual height of this tree is between thirty and forty feet. The
leaves consist of two, three, and sometimes four pairs of leaflets, which
are somewhat oval, and of shining dark green colour. The flowers spring,
in clusters, from the division of the smaller branches; the petals are of
a rich blue colour, and the stamens are crowned with yellowish anthers._

The _wood_, resin, bark, and even the flowers of this tree, are all of use either in the mechanical arts or in medicine. The former, which is yellow towards the outside, of deep blackish brown colour in the centre, and so compact and heavy as to sink, when immersed in water, is chiefly employed in the West Indies for the wheels and cogs of sugar mills. It is also formed into mortars, bowls, and domestic utensils of various kinds, for which, on account of its hardness, and not being liable to warp, it is peculiarly valuable. Lignum vitae is chiefly imported into this country from Jamaica, in logs or pieces of four or five hundred pounds' weight each, and is in great request for school-boys' rulers, and numerous articles of turnery ware. A decoction of the wood, when rasped, is occasionally administered as a medicine in rheumatic and gouty affections.

The _resin_ of this tree is sometimes obtained by wounding the bark in different parts. It exudes through the wounds; and, when sufficiently hardened by exposure to the sun, is taken off, and packed in small kegs for exportation. Sometimes it is obtained by sawing the wood into billets, each about three feet in length, which are then bored with an augur longitudinally, and laid upon a fire, in such position that the melted resin, which flows through the hole as the wood burns, may be received into a vessel placed for the purpose of containing it. This resin, which is frequently called _gum guiacum_, is of a greenish colour, but has sometimes a reddish hue. Its taste is pungent and acrid. From the bark of the tree there is frequently a spontaneous exudation: this has the name of _native gum_, and is imported in small, irregular, bright pieces, which are much more pure than the gum obtained in any other way. Guiacum is used as a strengthening medicine, and a warm aromatic; it is employed as a remedy against rheumatic and other pains, and as an ingredient in many officinal preparations. On its first introduction, which was soon after the discovery of America, it was in such repute as to have been sold for seven crowns a pound.

In the West Indies, the _bark_, _flowers_, and _fruit_, are each employed in medicine; and of these the former is frequently used instead of soap for washing, in which process it gives a good lather.

139. _BALSAM OF TOLU is a reddish yellow, thick, and pellucid substance,
of fragrant odour, which is obtained from a tree_ (Toluifera balsamum)
_which grows in South America._

_This tree is of considerable height; and has somewhat oval leaves, each
on a short foot-stalk. The flowers are numerous, and in lateral branches;
and the fruit is a round berry._

The name of this balsam has been obtained from its being chiefly procured from the province of Tolu, on the north coast of South America, near the isthmus of Panama. Incisions are made in the bark of the trees, at a particular season of the year, and a resinous fluid of yellowish white colour oozes out. This is collected in small gourd shells. At first it is about the consistence of treacle, but it thickens by being kept; and by age it becomes hard and brittle. Its smell is peculiarly grateful, somewhat resembling that of lemons; and its taste is warm and sweetish. On being chewed, it adheres to the teeth.

This balsam is used in medicine both in the form of a tincture, and a syrup; and, in its medicinal virtues, it agrees with most other balsams. The syrup of Tolu is used in several medicines; and is also made into lozenges, which may be procured of almost any chemist, and which are considered serviceable in appeasing the irritation occasioned by severe coughing.

140. _BENZOIN or GUM BENJAMIN, is a concrete or solid and fragrant
balsamic substance, the produce of a tree_ (Styrax benzoe) _which grows
chiefly in the island of Sumatra._

_This tree has oblong leaves which taper to a pointy and are smooth on
the upper surface, and downy beneath. The flowers are in loose bunches;
they usually hang all on the same side; and are generally closed, which
gives them the appearance of buds._

In some of the northern parts of Sumatra, particularly near the sea coast, there are several extensive plantations of Benzoin trees. The seeds or nuts are sown in the rice fields, and they afterwards require no other attention than that the surrounding shrubs should be cleared away from about the young plants.

When the trees have attained the age of six or seven years, incisions are made into the bark; and from these the balsam exudes, in the form of a thick, whitish, resinous juice. By exposure to the air, this juice soon hardens; it is then pared from the bark with a knife or chisel. For the first three years the trees yield the purest resins: this is of a white colour inclining to yellow, is soft and fragrant. Afterwards, for the next seven or eight years, an inferior sort is yielded; this is of reddish yellow colour, degenerating to brown. At length the trees, unable to bear a repetition of the process, are cut down, and split into pieces. From these is procured by scraping, a still worse sort of benzoin, which is dark-coloured, hard, and mixed, more or less, with parings of the wood and other impurities.

The inferior sorts of benzoin are exported to Arabia, Persia, and some parts of India, where they are burned, to perfume, with their smoke, the temples and the houses of the inhabitants; to expel troublesome insects, and obviate the pernicious effects of unwholesome air or noxious exhalations.

Benzoin is brought for sale to the mercantile parts of Sumatra, in large cakes, covered with mats. In order to pack it in chests, it is necessary to break these cakes, and to expose it to the heat of the sun. The greater part of the benzoin which is brought to England is re-exported to countries where the Roman Catholic and Mahometan religions prevail; to be there burned as incense in the churches and temples. The annual exportation of benzoin from London to Mogadore only has been estimated at 30,000 pounds' weight per annum.

That which is consumed in England is chiefly employed in medicine, in perfumes, and as cosmetics. It constitutes the basis of what are called _Turlington's_ or _Friar's balsam_, and _Jesuit's drops_; the salutary effects of which, particularly in healing recent wounds, is well known. This balsam is composed of benzoin, balsam of Tolu (139), Socotrine aloes (107), and rectified spirit of wine. Benzoin is also used in the preparation of what is called _ladies' court plaster_; but in this it is supposed to be unnecessary if not prejudicial; not only as it renders the plaster more difficult to be moistened, previously to its application, but as the irritating quality of the benzoin may in some instances dispose a fresh wound to fester. The mode of making court plaster is very simple. Five ounces of isinglass are dissolved in a pint of water. A quantity of thin black sarsnet being then stretched on a frame, a warm solution of the isinglass is applied with a brush equally over the surface; and, when dry, this is repeated a second or third time. It is finally brushed over with a weak solution of benzoin in spirits of wine, which communicates to it a pleasant aromatic smell.

If powdered benzoin be put into an earthen vessel over a slow fire, and the fumes of it be made to sublime into a paper cone fixed to the top of the pot, the substance thus formed is the _flowers of benzoin_ of the shops, or _Benzoic acid_, as it is termed, by chemists.

141. _STORAX is a fragrant, concrete, or solid balsam, that is obtained
from a tree_ (Styrax officinalis) _which grows in the Levant, and in some
parts of Italy._

_This tree grows to the height of twenty feet and upwards: it is much
branched, and has broad, alternate, oval leaves, somewhat pointed, smooth
above, and downy beneath. The flowers are large, white, in clusters on
short footstalks, and terminate the branches._

The best storax is obtained from Asiatic Turkey, in small transparent masses, of pale red or yellowish colour, and generally abounding in whitish tears, resembling those of benzoin. The drug, however, which is commonly sold in the shops as storax, consists of large, light pieces, very impure, from the saw-dust with which it is mixed.

The mode of obtaining this balsam is similar to that employed for benzoin (140): incisions are made in the trees, and, on its oozing from the wound, it is scraped off, and collected together to be packed for sale. It was formerly customary to enclose it in reeds.

Storax is one of the most fragrant of the balsams, and is much used in some countries in perfumes, and for fumigation. It is also compounded in various ways with other substances, for medicinal use.

142. _LOG-WOOD is a dark red wood, chiefly used in dyeing; and imported
from Honduras, and some of the islands of the West Indies._

_The log-wood tree_ (Hæmatoxylon campechianum, Fig. 43) _is from sixteen
to twenty-four feet high, and, both in the trunk and branches, is
extremely crooked. The branches are spinous, and the leaves winged, with,
in general, four or five pair of leaflets, which are somewhat
heart-shaped. The flowers are if a reddish yellow colour, small, and
numerous._

The district of Honduras in North America has long been celebrated for the production of log-wood, which grows wild chiefly in forests where the soil is moist, or near the banks of rivers and lakes. The cutting of it occupies a great number of hands, and is an unpleasant and very unhealthy pursuit.

In the year 1715 some seeds of the log-wood tree were introduced into the island of Jamaica; and this wood is now chiefly employed in that island as a fence against cattle. As an article of commercial export, it does not appear to answer so fully as could have been wished; yet, in morassy parts of the island, it grows in considerable luxuriance.

Few kinds of wood are of more solid texture than this. Hence arises its weight, which is so great that it will sink in water. Its predominant colour is red, tinged with orange and black; and its hardness such that it is capable of being polished, and is scarcely susceptible of decay. For exportation to Europe, it is cut into billets or logs, each about three feet in length.

The chief use of log-wood in this country is for dyeing green, purple, blue, and black colours, according to the different ingredients with which it is employed. It gives a purplish tinge to watery and spirituous infusions; but all the colours which can be prepared from it are fugitive, and cannot, by any art, be rendered so durable as those prepared from other materials.

Independently of its use as a dyeing drug, log-wood possesses considerable utility as an astringent medicine, chiefly under the form of a decoction, or of an extract boiled down to a proper consistence.

The price of logwood at Honduras is so low as not usually to exceed 12_l._ or 14_l._ Jamaica currency per ton.

143. _MAHOGANY is the wood of a well-known tree_ (Swietenia mahagoni,
Fig. 44) _of large dimensions, with winged leaves, and small white
flowers, which grows in Jamaica and Honduras._

_The branches of this tree are numerous and spreading. Its leaves are
alternate and winged, with four or five pair of leaflets, which are
somewhat spear-shaped. The flowers are numerous, small, white, and in
spikes or clusters, which arise at the junction of the leaves with the
branches._

The cutting of mahogany constitutes a principal occupation of the British settlers in the vicinity of Honduras. The gangs of negroes employed in this work consist of from ten to fifty each, one of whom is styled the "huntsman." He is generally selected from the most intelligent of his companions, and his chief employment is to search for these trees in the woods, the principal of which lie adjacent to the river Balize. About the beginning of August, the huntsman is despatched into the woods, and he cuts his way through the thickest parts, to the highest spots he can find. Here he climbs the loftiest tree, and thence attentively surveys the surrounding forest. At this season the leaves of the mahogany trees are of a yellow reddish hue, and an eye accustomed to them can discover, at a great distance, the places where they are most abundant. He now descends, and to such places directs his steps; and, having well marked the way, returns to his companions, to point out the places to them.

Here they assemble, and erect, against each tree to be felled, a stage so high as to allow of the tree being cut down at the height of about twelve feet from the ground. The last day of felling the trees is appropriated to festivity; and these people have then a short interval of leisure for comforts in which they seldom can indulge at any other time.

After the branches are lopped, and the useless parts of the wood are cut off, the operation commences of conveying the trees, by cattle and trucks, to the water's side, a task of infinite and laborious difficulty. A sufficient number of pieces to form a raft being here collected, they are shoved from the bank into the water, and suffered to float singly upon the current to large cables which are placed across the river at some distance below. As numerous gangs of mahogany cutters are usually employed near the banks of the same river, their trees also float to the same spot. Here therefore the whole are collected, amounting sometimes to more than a thousand immense logs; and, each party claiming his own, the trees are formed into separate rafts for their final destinations.

In some instances the profit of cutting mahogany at this settlement has been very great. A single tree has occasionally been known to contain 12,000 superficial feet, and to have produced upwards of 1000_l._ sterling.

The body of the tree is of course the most valuable; but, for ornamental purposes, the limbs or large branches, are generally preferred, their grain being much closer, and their veins being more rich and variegated than those of the other parts.

The Honduras mahogany is considered inferior to that produced in Jamaica. In this island mahogany was formerly much more abundant, and consequently much less expensive than it is now, because the low lands have gradually been thinned of such trees as could readily be carried to market, or conveyed on board vessels for exportation.

The date of the introduction of mahogany wood into England is 1724. Since this period it has been in very general request for making the more valuable kinds of household furniture. It admits of a high polish, and is excellently adapted for tables, chairs, desks, and other similar articles. In Jamaica, mahogany is employed as a strong and durable timber for beams, joists, planks, boards, &c. Many attempts have been made to stain other kinds of wood so as to resemble it, but none of these have been attended with success.

It has been lately discovered that the _bark_ of the mahogany tree may be advantageously employed in medicine, as a substitute for Peruvian bark (62).

144. _QUASSIA is a drug, the root of a tree_ (Quassia amara, Fig. 78)
_which grows in the West Indies and South America, but particularly in
the colony of Surinam._

_The leaves of the quassia tree are winged, with two pair of oval and
somewhat pointed leaflets, and an odd one at the end: these are smooth,
deep green above and pale below; and the common footstalk is edged on
each side with a leafy membrane. The flowers are bright red, and
terminate the branches in long clusters._

This drug was first brought into use in Surinam, by a negro whose name was Quassia, and who employed it with great success in the cure of intermittent and other malignant fevers, which prevail in that flat and marshy country. The offer of a valuable consideration induced him to reveal the secret to Daniel Rolander, a Swede, who carried specimens of the wood, together with a branch of the tree, the flower, and fruit, to Stockholm, in 1756.

Since this period the drug has been generally employed in Europe; and its efficacy in the removal of many diseases has been perfectly ascertained. Dr. Cullen, however, observes, that though it is an excellent bitter, and that it will do all that any pure or simple bitter can do, yet his experience of it had not led him to think it would do more. Quassia is said to possess antiseptic properties, and consequently to have considerable influence in retarding a tendency to putrefaction. It is also sometimes used instead of hops in the brewing of malt liquor.

The _root_, _wood_, and _bark_ of the quassia tree are all occasionally employed in medicine, and the bark is said to be more intensely bitter than either of the other two.

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CLASS XI.--DODECANDRIA.

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MONOGYNIA.

145. _GAMBOGE is a yellow resinous gum obtained from a tree_ (Garcinia
cambogia) _which grows in several parts of Camboga or Camboya in the
empire of Tunkin._

_The leaves of this tree are oval, but acute. The flowers have each five
petals, and fifteen stamens: they are solitary, terminate the branches,
and have scarcely any stalks. The fruit is a berry about the size of an
orange._

The name of this gum has been derived from that of the country whence it is brought. The mode of obtaining it is by puncturing or cutting the branches of the trees. It issues from the wounds in a fluid state, but soon becomes hardened by the heat of the sun. After this it is formed into large cakes or rolls, in which state we receive it.

Gamboge is chiefly used as a pigment. When good, it is of a fine orange colour; and on being softened with water, is bright yellow, requiring no preparation previously to being used. It is also given as a medicine; but its operations being very violent, it should be administered with great caution.