a fleshy albumen : radicle slender, turned towards the hilum : cotyledons flat.-—Trees without
branches. Leaves alternate, lobed, on long slender petiols.”
A ff in it ie s . Jussieu originally arranged Carica and the genera now referred to Passi/lo-
reae as allied genera, under Cucurbit aceae ; remarking, that they were principally distinguished
by their superior ovary, he like others considering the Peponida as a 1-celled parietal fruit, and
thus placed them between Cucurbit aceae and Urticaceae. Their affinity with the former is still
asserted but not with the latter. In my remarks on Cucurbitaceae I have shown that in common
with all other parietose orders they can have no very close affinity with that family
on account of the wide difference in the structure of their ovary. With Passifloreae they are
closely connected by one character, common to both, but not constant in all the species, the
placentas, namely, being spread over the whole surface of the carpels in place of confined to
their lines of junction. The seed, which I have not seen well described, may perhaps
afford other characters. I t is enclosed with a quantity of thin mucous pulp, in a hyaline sack,
arillus ? is of an oval shape, the testa thick, exteriorly black and of a loose cork-like texture, rough
and corrugated internally firmer, polished within. Sir W. J. Hooker describes it, as about the
size of a hemp seed, “ roundish, compressed, almost black, but covered with a transversely
wrinkled, loose, greyish, skin or arillus, and enveloped in mucous.” This description does not
quadrate with specimens now before me—the testa of which evidently consists of 2 layers, an
outer one spongy or suberose, furrowed, and an inner denser and polished within, enclosed within
a loose transparent sack but no proper arillus. The seed itself agrees in structure with those
of both Euphorbeaceae and Urticaceae, as does those of Passifloreae, which however form only
a remote affinity when not supported by characters taken from the ovary or mature fruit. I
look upon Papayaceae as more nearly related to Passifloreae than to any other order, though
sufficiently distinct.
G eographical D istribution. America is the native country of this order, which is only
known in other countries as objects of cultivation, but as such, the Papaw has become widely
distributed, apparently readily adopting itself to every variation of climate within the tropics.
P roperties and U ses. These are about the most curious of any yet met with in the
vegetable kingdom, but so little known in India, that I am under the necessity of having recourse
to the experience acquired in the West Indies to make them known. These accounts though
rather too long for this work I shall not attempt to abridge, but introduce in the words of the
originals. One circumstance 1 have observed, not mentioned by either, is, that the ripe seeds
when chewed yield in a very marked degree the pungency and flavour of nasturtium or Indian
cress. This flavour and taste is possessed by the seed proper, not the testa, which is insipid.
The first of the following extracts is from the pen of Sir W. J. Hooker, published in the Botanical
Magazine, Nos. 2898 99—and the last from a paper by Dr. Holder, long a medical practitioner
in the West Indies, published in the Wernerian Memoirs, vol. 3d page 245.
“ The Papaw Tree is of rapid growth. S t. P ierre probably spoktf from his own knowledge,
when he described V irginia as having planted a seed, which, in three years’ time, produced a
trunk twenty feet high, with its upper part loaded with ripe fruit. It is for the sake of this
fruit, mainly, that the plant is cultivated ; but if the flavour were not better than that yielded
by what ripened in our stove, I cannot recommend it as at all agreeable. B rown in his Natural
History of Jamaica tells us, that “ it has a pleasant sweetish taste, and is much liked by many
people ; that, while young, it is commonly used for sauce ; and when boiled and mixed with lime
juice and sugar, is not. unlike, or much inferior to that made of real apples, for which it is commonly
substituted.” In the opinion of S loane it is not a very pleasant fruit, even when helped
with pepper and sugar; and the more ordinary use, he adds, of this fruit, is before it is ripe,
when, as large as one’s fist, it is cut into slices, soaked in water till the milky juice is out, and
then boiled and eaten as turnips, or baked as apples.
The juice of the pulp, according to D escourtilz, in the Flore Medicale des Antilles, is
used as a cosmetic, to remove freckles on the skin, caused by the sun ; and the negroes in the
French colonies employ the leaves to wash their linen instead of soap.
As a medicinal p lan t, th e Papaw Tree is particularly deserv in g o f no tic e . H ermandez
long ago spoke o f th e milky ju ic e o f th e unripe fru it as a powerful vermifuge ; which has been
ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY. 35
confirmed by M. C harpentier C ossigni, as mentioned in the Asiatic Researches, by Dr.
F leming (vol. ii. p. 162). A single dose, that gentleman says, is sufficient to cure the disease,
however abundant the worms may be. Another French writer (P oupbe D esportes) recommends
the use of the powder of the seed instead of the juice. T
But the most extraordinary property of the Papaw Tree, is that which is related, first *
believe by B rowne, in his Natural History of Jamaica ; namely, that “ water impregnated with
the milky juice of this tree is thought to make all sorts of meat washed in it very tender; but
eight or ten minutes steeping, it is said, will make it so soft that it will drop m pieces irom
the spit before it is well roasted, or turn soon to rags in the boiling.” M r. N eill mentioned
this circumstance more fully in his interesting Horticultural tour through Holland and the
Netherlands; and it has repeatedly been confirmed to me by gentlemen of this country who
have been long resident in the West Indies, and who speak of the employment of the juice tor
such a purpose as of quite general occurrence; and more, that old hogs and old poultry, which
are fed upon the leaves and fruit, however tough the meat they afford might otherwise be, it is
thus rendered perfectly tender; and good too, if eaten as soon as killed, but that the flesh very
soon passes into a state of putridity. ‘ , , . n1
Whether this power of hastening the decay of meat be attributable to the WnBmmt
matter or fibrine contained in the juice of the Papaw or not, I will not pretend to say, but the
presence of such is a fact scarcely less wonderful than the property just alluded to. I wo specimens
of the juice were brought from the Isle of France ; in the one the juice had been evaporated
to dryness, and was in the state of an extract; in the other, the juice was preserved by
being mixed with an equal bulk of rum. | Both were subjected to analysis by V a u q u e l in .-
The first was of a yellowish-white colour, and semitransparent. Its taste was sweetish, i t
had no smell, and was pretty solid; but attracted moisture when kept m a damp place, lh e
second was reddish-brown, and had the smell and taste of boiled beef. When the first specimen
was macerated in cold water, the greatest part of it dissolved. The solution frothed with soap.
The addition of nitric acid coagulated it, and rendered it white; and when boiled, it threw down
abundance of white flakes. When the juice of the Papaw is treated with water, the greatest
part dissolves ; but there remains a substance insoluble, which has a greasy appearance, i t
softens in the air and becomes viscid, brown, and semitransparent. When thrown on burning
coals it melted, let drops of grease exude, emitted the noise of meat roasting, and produced a
smoke which had the odour of fat volatilized. It left behind it no residue. The substance was
fibrine. The resemblance between the juice of the Papaw and animal matter is so close, that
one would be tempted to suspect some imposition, were not the evidence that it is really the
juice of a tree quite unquestionable.” . . . . ,
This had been supposed, previously, to belong exclusively to the animal kingdom :
but it has since been found in other vegetables, especially in Fungi.
“ The effects of the juice of the Carica Papaya, or Papaw Tree, whether of the fruit, stem,
or leaves, or even of the exhalation from the plant, in lessening the cohesion of t e muscu ar
fibre, and acting on the fibrin of the blood, are matters of common observation m the Island ot
Barbadoes; the inhabitants availing themselves of this property, to render more delicate, when
thought necessary, the beef, mutton, pork, and poultry of their tables. If the milky juice,
which is readily procurable by incision into the tree, or unripe fruit, be thoroughly ru e on
the flesh of a tough or old animal, and the animal be cooked by roasting, the fibres so completely
lose their cohesion, that the flesh will fall from the bones, or be separated by the slightest
force. If a smaller quantity of the juice be used, the flesh will be rendered tender; but so
great is the effect, and so difficult is it to ascertain the degree to which it may be carried, it the
milky juice be directly applied to the flesh, that another and more certain mode has been resorted
to, for procuring the inteneration of the flesh of different animals. By simply suspen mg
the animal to a bough of the tree, for a space of time proportioned to the size of the animal, or
of the joint of meat, the flesh is found to be sufficiently intenerated. A particular triend ot
mine, was in the constant habit of having his meat so prepared for his table, and was particniar
enough (or thought it necessary), to use his watch to regulate the time of suspension. .
This quality of destroying the cohesion of the muscular fibre, probably resides chiefly gift
the milky juice, or in the vapour, which, I conjecture, is exhaled from the tree, since the boiled
fru it, when given to animals, does n o t p ro d ace th is effect to su ch a d eg ree as to be sensible. e