DIGYNIA.

Rushes are sometimes manufactured into a slight kind of baskets. In the vicinity of Farnham, in Surrey, they are cut about Midsummer, and dried in the same manner as hay. After this they are formed into a kind of rick, and sheltered till the succeeding spring. They are then usefully employed, for bands or ties, in fastening hop-binds to the poles. In a fresh state they are sometimes made into brooms or besoms for blacksmiths, and other artisans working in metals.

115.BARBERRIES are a beautiful red and oblong-shaped fruit, produced, in small bunches, by a shrub(Berberris vulgaris)which grows wild in many parts of England. This shrub has somewhat oval, serrated, and pointed leaves; thorns growing three together upon the branches; and pendent clusters of yellow flowers.

So great is the acidity of this beautifulfruitthat even birds refuse to eat it. In this respect it nearly approaches the tamarind. When boiled with sugar, however, it makes an agreeable preserve, rob, or jelly, according to the different modes of preparing it. Barberries are also used as a dry sweetmeat, and in sugarplums or comfits; are pickled with vinegar, and are used for the garnishing of dishes. They are likewise well calculated to allay heat and thirst in persons afflicted with fevers. Thebarkof this barberry shrub is said to have been administered with effect in cases of jaundice, and in some other complaints; and the inner bark, with the assistance of alum, dyes linen a fine yellow colour. Theroots, but particularly their bark, are employed, in Poland, in the dyeing of leather.

A very singular circumstance has been stated respecting the barberry shrub; that corn, sown near it, proves abortive, the ears being in general destitute of grain; and that this influence is sometimes extended to a distance of three or four hundred yards across a field. A similar opinion, on this subject, prevails in France, as well as in England, but there is reason to suppose it is without foundation.

116.RICE(Oryza sativa, Fig. 39)is a well-known kind of grain, which is much cultivated in the East Indies, America, and some parts of Spain; and which, previously to its being sold for use, is freed from a brownish husk that covers it.The rice plant has an erect, simple, round, and jointed stem. Its leaves are narrow and pointed; and its flowers appear in a kind of bunch, at the extremity, somewhat resembling, but more compact than, an ear of oats.

The rice plant has an erect, simple, round, and jointed stem. Its leaves are narrow and pointed; and its flowers appear in a kind of bunch, at the extremity, somewhat resembling, but more compact than, an ear of oats.

We are, at present, chiefly supplied with rice from America; and it is said that the Americans were indebted for this grain to a small bag of it which was formerly given as a present from a Mr. Dubois, treasurer of the East India Company, to a Carolina merchant.

A wet and morassy soil, appears in general necessary to the cultivation of rice. The parts of the farms or plantations in which it is grown are usually so situated as to admit of being flooded; and, in many places, reservoirs of water are formed for this purpose. These reservoirs have sluices, by which the rice fields may be inundated at pleasure. In reaping the crop, the labourers generally work knee deep in water and mud. As the rice is cut, the sheaves are put on drays, and carried out to be spread on dry ground. The rice thus produced has the name ofmarsh rice, and is that which is chiefly imported into Europe.

In some of the mountainous parts of the East Indies rice is cultivated on the sides of hills, where it can only be watered by rain. It is sown, however, at the beginning of the rainy, and reaped in the beginning of the dry season; so that, in fact, it has nearly all the advantages of being watered, which the marsh rice possesses. The general appellation of rice, in the East Indies, ispaddy; but the kind just mentioned is denominatedpaddy gunung, ormountain rice, and is littleknown in Europe, though of late years it has been cultivated with success in Tuscany. Its grains are whiter, finer, and more palatable than those of the marsh rice.

After the harvesting of rice, the next process is to free the grains from the husk in which they are enveloped. There are several ways of doing this. In some places they are pounded in large mortars, and afterwards winnowed. In others large cylindrical pestles are lifted by a wheel worked by oxen; and between these one person sits and pushes forward the rice to be beaten, whilst another carries it off to be winnowed, and supplies fresh parcels. The inhabitants of several parts of the East throw it into hot water, by which the grains are slightly swelled, and thus burst through the husk. In the island of Ceylon, and in some parts of America, a hollow place, about a foot in depth, and nine or ten yards in diameter, is dug in the ground. This is filled with corn, which is trodden by oxen driven round it until the grain is cleared. The Sacred and other writings inform us that this was the mode which the ancients adopted with other species of grain.

In Spain, when the rice is ripe, it is gathered into sheaves, and put into a mill, where the lower grinding stone is covered with cork; and, by this means, the grain is separated from the husk, without being bruised.

Rice is said to have been lately cultivated, with success, in some parts of Scotland; and it is not improbable, that, by degrees, this species of grain may be naturalized to our climate.

No kind of grain is so generally adopted for food in hot climates as this. The inhabitants of many parts of the East subsist almost wholly upon it; and large quantities are annually imported into Europe, where it is highly esteemed for puddings and numerous culinary preparations. It is considered very nutritive, but it should not be eaten in too large quantities by languid or debilitated persons. In a scarcity of othergrain, rice may be used with considerable advantage as an ingredient in bread. Indeed, on account of its excellence and its cheapness, it claims attention as a general article of sustenance for the poorer classes of society; as it is well known that a quarter of a pound of rice, slowly boiled, will yield more than a pound of solid and nutritive food. For the fattening of poultry, boiled rice has been adopted with success, and it would be more generally adopted than it is, were it not for an unfounded and very extraordinary notion that it tends to make them blind.

The inhabitants of the East obtain from rice a vinous liquor, which is more intoxicating than the strongest wine; and an ardent spirit, calledarrack, is also partly made from it. The latter is chiefly manufactured at Batavia, and at Goa on the coast of Malabar; and is said to be distilled from a mixture of the wort or infusion of rice, and of toddy, or the juice of the cocoa-nut tree (233), to which other ingredients, and particularly spices, are added.

There is only one species of rice; but the varieties of it, according to the soil, climate, and culture, are very numerous.

117.The HORSE-CHESNUT(Æsculus hippocastanum, Fig. 66)is a very common tree in parks and pleasure grounds, bearing leaves each composed of seven large lobes; and having large and elegant clusters of light-coloured flowers.Each flower consists of five petals of white colour, irregularly spotted with red and yellow; and roundish, but undulated or waved at the edges. The fruit, which is of bitter and unpleasant taste, is enclosed in a roundish capsule or seed vessel, beset with spines, and divided into three cells.

Each flower consists of five petals of white colour, irregularly spotted with red and yellow; and roundish, but undulated or waved at the edges. The fruit, which is of bitter and unpleasant taste, is enclosed in a roundish capsule or seed vessel, beset with spines, and divided into three cells.

There is no tree of British growth more admired, or more deserving of admiration on account of its brilliant appearance at a very early season of the year than the chesnut. Its beautiful flowers, in upright conical spikes, terminate the branches on all sides, in such manner that sometimes almost the whole tree appears as if it were covered by them.

Thefruitof the horse-chesnut has been found of considerable use in the fattening of cattle, the tallow of which it is said to render peculiarly firm. For this purpose, however, as well as for the feeding of sheep, it has been considered advantageous to macerate the nuts in lime water, or in caustic alkali, to deprive them of their bitterness; and, afterwards, to wash them in water, and boil them into a paste. Goats and deer are partial to these nuts; but they are said to be unwholesome for swine. In Turkey they are ground and mixed with provender for horses; and, if they could be wholly divested of their bitterness and acrimony, it is supposed they might be converted into bread. A patent was granted, in the year 1796, to Lord W. Murray for his discovery of a method of extracting starch from horse-chesnuts; and a paste or size has been made from them, which is preferred by book-binders, shoe-makers, and paper-hangers, to that made from wheaten flower. They contain a soapy quality, and are used, in some parts of France and Switzerland, for cleaning woollens, and for the washing and bleaching of linen; and, if ground and made into cakes or balls, it is supposed they might answer the purpose of soap, both in washing and fulling. If a small portion of horse-chesnut, in a state of powder, be snuffed up the nostrils, it excites sneezing; and even an infusion or decoction of it has been said to produce a similar effect. These have consequently been administered in some complaints of the head and eyes, and have been productive of considerable benefit. The pricklyhusksmay be advantageously employed in the tanning of leather.

Thewoodof the horse-chesnut tree is white, soft, and of little value. It however serves occasionally for water-pipes, for mill-timber, and turners' ware. And if it be dipped into scalding oil, and well pitched, it becomes extremely durable. In some parts of the Continent thebarkof this tree is used in the cure of intermittent and other fevers; and some writers have been of opinion that it might, with advantage, be substituted in several complaints for Peruvian bark.

This tree was first brought into Europe, from the northern parts of Asia, about the year 1550; and its growth is so rapid, that trees, raised from nuts, have, in twelve or fourteen years, attained nearly their full dimensions. It is further remarkable, in the growth of the horse-chesnut tree, that the whole of the spring shoots are said to be completed in little more than three weeks from the first opening of the buds.

118.BALSAM, or BALM OF GILEAD, is the dried juice of a low tree or shrub(Amyris gileadensis),which grows in several parts of Abyssinia and Syria.This tree has spreading crooked branches, small bright green leaves, growing in threes, and small white flowers on separate footstalks. The petals are four in number, and the fruit is a small egg-shaped berry, containing a smooth nut.

118.BALSAM, or BALM OF GILEAD, is the dried juice of a low tree or shrub(Amyris gileadensis),which grows in several parts of Abyssinia and Syria.

This tree has spreading crooked branches, small bright green leaves, growing in threes, and small white flowers on separate footstalks. The petals are four in number, and the fruit is a small egg-shaped berry, containing a smooth nut.

By the inhabitants of Syria and Egypt, this balsam, as it appears from the authority of the Scriptures, was in great esteem in the highest periods of antiquity. We are informed by Josephus, the Jewish historian, that the balsam of Gilead was one of the trees which was given by the Queen of Saba to King Solomon.Those Ishmaelitish merchants, who were the purchasers of Joseph, are said to have been travelling from Gilead, on the eastern side of Canaan, to Egypt, having their camels laden with "spicery, balm, and myrrh." It was then, and it still is, considered one of the most valuable medicines that the inhabitants of those countries possessed. The virtues, however, which have been ascribed to it, exceed all rational bounds of credibility.

The mode in which it is obtained is described by Mr. Bruce. He says that the bark of the trees is cut, for this purpose, with an axe, at a time when the juices are in their strongest circulation. These, as they ooze through the wound, are received into small earthen bottles; and every day's produce is gathered, and poured into a larger bottle, which is closely corked. When the juice first issues from the wound, it is of light yellow colour, and somewhat turbid appearance; but, as it settles, it becomes clear, has the colour of honey, and appears more fixed and heavy than at first. Its smell, when fresh, is exquisitely fragrant, and strongly pungent, not much unlike that of volatile salts; but, if the bottle be left uncorked, it soon loses this quality. Its taste is bitter, acrid, aromatic, and astringent.

The quantity of balsam yielded by one tree never exceeds sixty drops in a day. Hence its scarcity is such that the genuine balsam is seldom exported as an article of commerce. Even at Constantinople, the centre of trade of those countries, it cannot, without great difficulty, be procured. In Turkey it is in high esteem as a medicine, an odoriferous unguent, and a cosmetic. But its stimulating properties upon the skin are such that the face of a person unaccustomed to use it becomes red and swollen, and continues so for some days afterward. The Turks also take it in small quantities, in water, to fortify the stomach, and excite the animal faculties.

119.ROSE-WOOD(Amyris balsamifera)is an odoriferous tree, with smooth oval leaves, which grows in the Island of Jamaica.

Thewoodof 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 odoriferousbalsam, 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 maplewood, 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 thetablesupon 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, andhas 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 thejuicewhich 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.

Thewoodof 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 thejuiceto 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.

Thewoodof 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 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 20l.to 30l.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 verygenerally 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 areBILBERRIES, orBLEA-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: andRED 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. Thestalksandtopsmay be rendered of considerable service in the tanning of leather; and in dyeing woollen cloth an orange colour. Bees are partial to theflowers; but the honey which they form, after having fed upon these flowers, acquires a reddish tint. Theleavesandseedsof heath afford a grateful food to grouse, and other animals.

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. Theblossomsmay 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.

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.

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 forcinnamon, 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. Theleaves, thefruit, and therootall 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.

Thisbarkwas 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.

Thebuds, as well as thebark, 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 isLaurus 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.

Of these the principal isLaurus 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 theinterstices 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 thiscountry, 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 thewoodof 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 arerosemary,sage,lavender, andmarjoram.

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.

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. Itsleavesafford, 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 assuresus that they may thus be used not only with safety, but even with advantage, as assisting digestion.

Theberriesor 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.

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, thisfruit, 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 orstone, 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. Theleavesare 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 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.

Thiswoodhas a fragrant smell, and an aromatic and somewhat acrid, though sweetish taste, that are also observable in thebark, the smallertwigs, and theroots, 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 ofsaloop.

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.

Thebarkof 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.

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 thisfruitis 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.

Thenutsare 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.

Theoilof 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 toomuch 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 milkyjuiceis 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 calledfsi-chu, which is conjectured to be the cashew nut tree.

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.

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 thisrootin 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 theTurkey rhubarbis 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 andwhite. TheChinese rhubarbis 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 200,000l.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.

Thebarkof rhubarb has been used for tinctures, andfound, in every respect, as efficacious as the best part of the roots: and theseedspossess nearly the same qualities. Theleavesimpart an agreeable acidity, somewhat similar to that of sorrel; and a marmalade, which may, with advantage, be adopted for children, is made from the freshstalks, by stripping off the bark, and boiling the pulp with an equal quantity of sugar.

Back to Index Next