part 2

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[742] _Histoire d’un voyage faict en la Terre du Bresil, autrement dite Amérique_, 1586. 204 (first edition _La Rochelle_, 1578).

[743] _Histoire du Nouveau Monde_, Leyde, 1640. 503.

[744] _Hist. Rerum Nat. Brasil_. 1648. 37.

[745] _Botanica curiosa_, Helmst. 1697. 38.

[746] Duval, _Colonies et politique coloniale de la France_, 1864. 101.—Mavidal, _Le Sénégal, son état présent, son avenir_, Paris, 1863. 171.—Carrère et Holle, _La Sénégambie Française_, 1855. 84.—Poiteau, in _Annales des Sciences nat., Botanique_, xix. (1853) 268.

The oil is exported from India where the ground-nut is also cultivated, though not on so large a scale as in Western Africa. In Europe it is manufactured chiefly at Marseilles, London, Hamburg and Berlin. The yield of the seeds varies from 42 to nearly 50 per cent. The softness of the seeds greatly facilitates their exhaustion, whether by mechanical power or by the action of bisulphide of carbon or other solvent.

=Uses=—Good arachis oil may be employed in pharmacy in the same way as olive oil, for which it is a valuable substitute, though more prone to rancidity. It has been introduced into the _Pharmacopœia of India_, and is generally used instead of olive oil in the Indian Government establishments. Its largest application is for industrial purposes, especially in soap-making.

RADIX ABRI.

_Indian Liquorice_; F. _Liane à réglisse_, _Réglisse d’Amérique_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Abrus precatorius_ L., a twining woody shrub[747] indigenous to India, but now found in all tropical countries.

=History=—The plant is mentioned in the Sanskrit medical writings of Susruta, whence we may infer that it has long been employed in India. Its resemblance to liquorice was remarked by Sloane (1700), who called it _Phaseolus glycyrrhites_. As a substitute for liquorice, the root has been often employed by residents in the tropical countries of both hemispheres. It was introduced into the _Bengal Pharmacopœia_ of 1844, and into the _Pharmacopœia of India_ of 1868.

The seeds, of the size of a small pea, well known for their polish and beautiful black and red colours, have given their name of _Retti_ to a weight (= 2³/₁₆ grains) used by Hindu jewellers and druggists.

=Description=—The root is long, woody, tortuous and branching. The stoutest piece in our possession is as thick as a man’s finger, but most of it is much more slender. The cortical layer is extremely thin and of a light brown or almost reddish hue. The woody part breaks with a short fibrous fracture exhibiting a light yellow interior. The root has a peculiar, disagreeable odour, and a bitterish acrid flavour leaving a faintly sweet after-taste. When cut into short lengths it has a slight resemblance to liquorice, but may easily be distinguished by means of the microscope.

Mr. Moodeen Sheriff,[748] who says he has often examined the root of _Abrus_ both fresh and dried, remarks that it is far from abounding in sugar as generally considered;—that it does not possess any sweetness at all until it attains a certain size, and that even then its sweet taste is not always well marked. As it is often mixed in the Indian bazaars with true liquorice, he thinks the latter may have sometimes been mistaken for it.

[747] Fig. in Bentley and Trimen, _Medicinal Plants_,