fire burlting out of the fmoke. . It is therefore in great repute
for the making o f chefts, and furniture: when ufed as fuel it
yields a fcent, grateful as that o f the fandal or citron. It is alfo
called the Dragon-tree,' as it exudes a thick juice, of a blood-
red, refembling that which falls from that tree, which has been
long fam.ed for that quality.
E r y t h r i n a . Corallodendron, ii. tab. 76, a tree quite brilliant with its fcar-
let flowers. It grows ufually near the ihores. It is pretended,
that fuch is the fplendor o f the long fpikes, that during the
flowering feafon they actually terrify the fifh from the coafts
on which they grow.
P h a s e o l u s . Vulgaris. Ceylon, and India in general, produce numbers of
fpecies of kidney-beans. The fpecies juft mentioned is the
fcarlet. The P h. radiatus and max. are engraven in Rumpb. v,
tab. 139, and 140.
PoncHos. Pruriens, Nai Corann, FI. Zeyl. N" 539, is remarkable for its
efiedts. The downy pile on the pods oecafions the moft intolerable
itching, far beyond that o f the nettle. It is called at
Surat, Cobuge, from which it was corrupted to the Englifh name
of Cow-itcb ; Ray, vol. i. p. 887, names it Phafeolus Zurratenfis,
and Cowbege; and fays it has been proved a moft efficacious rer
medy in the dropfy. Rumphius figures it in vol. v. tab. 142,
under the title of. Cacara Pruritus. It has been fometimes applied
for wanton purpofes, to fet people an itching. The author
of Hudibras makes it one o f the drugs ufed in his days, to
counterfeit the feats o f witches. .1 ihall give the whole, lift,
fince I may have occafion to refer back to i t :—
W i t h
W i t h drugs, convey’d in drink or meat,
All feats of witches counterfeit;
Kill pigs and geefe with powder’d glafs,
And make it for inchantment pafs ;
With Cow-itch meazle like a' leper,
And choak with fumes of Guiney-peppet: ,
Make lechers, and their punks with Dewtry,
Commit phantaftical advowtry;
| Bewitch hermetic-men to run
Stark flaring mad with Manicon.
; .Ceylon and India have great varieties o f Hedy/drum. The Heuysarvm.
H. PulcbeUum, Burm. Zeyl. tab. 52, is very remarkable for its
long fpikes o f circular pods.
■ TinBoria, Rumpb. Amboin. v. tab. 80, is common in all parts In d ig o fe r a
o f India m. a cultivated ftate: but its native country is Guzerat,
where it grows wild; but its name is derived from Indie us, a pa-
trommic taken from the country it was originally brought from.
It is alfo found wild in Madagafcar. The rich blue dye is procured
from it in all parts o f Hindoojlan, and ufed in the various
manufaaures. Diofcorides, lib. v. c. 68, fpeaks o f two kinds,
one extraaed from what he calls certain Indian reeds! Pliny
errs when he fays it is from the flime which adheres to thofe
plants. Diofcorides mentions it medicinally: Pliny as a paint.
T he fpecies o f C it r u s are two, C. Aurantium • Sinen•/f e7, o*r vClllTRRU„osi
China orange, probably originally imported from that country,
and the C. Decumanus, Rumpb. Amboin. ii. tab. 64, the Shaddock,
or Pumpeltqofe o f the Weft Indies, which is only cultivated in
. H h 2 Ceylon,