190. Eucalyptus amygdalina.—The peppermint tree, a native of Tasmania. It produces a thin, transparent oil possessed of a pungent odor resembling oil of lemons, and tasting like camphor, which has great solvent properties. The genus Eucalyptus is extensive and valuable. The greater number form large trees, known in Australia as gum trees.
191. Eucalyptus gigantea.—This stringy bark gum furnishes a strong, durable timber, used for shipbuilding and other purposes. E. robusta contains large cavities in its stem, between the annual concentric circles of wood, filled with a red gum. Many of the species yield gums and astringent principles and also a species of manna. The timber of these trees has been pronounced to be unsurpassed for strength and durability by any other timber known. The leaves of these trees are placed vertically to the sun, a provision suited to a dry and sultry climate.
192. Eucalyptus globulus.—The blue gum, a rapid-growing tree, attaining to a large size. Recently it has attracted attention and gained some repute in medicine as an antiperiodic. The leaves have also been applied to wounds with some success. It produces a strong camphor-smelling oil, which has a mint-like taste, not at all disagreeable.
193. Eugenia acris.—The wild clove or bayberry tree of the West Indies. In Jamaica it is sometimes called the black cinnamon. The refreshing perfume known as bay rum is prepared by distilling the leaves of this tree with rum. It is stated that the leaves of the allspice are also used in this preparation.
194. Eugenia jambosa.—A tropical plant, belonging to the myrtle family, which produces a pleasant rose-flavored fruit, known as the Roseapple, or Jamrosade.
195. Eugenia pimento.—The fruits of this West Indian tree are known in commerce as allspice; the berries have a peculiarly grateful odor and flavor, resembling a combination of cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon; hence the name of allspice. The leaves when bruised emit a fine aromatic odor, and a delicate odoriferous oil is distilled from them, which is said to be used as oil of cloves. The berries, bruised and distilled with water, yield the pimento oil of commerce.
196. Eugenia ugni.—This small-foliaged myrtaceous plant is a native of Chili. It bears a glossy black fruit, which has an agreeable flavor and perfume, and is highly esteemed in its native country. The plant is hardy in the Southern States.
197. Euphorbia canariensis.—This plant grows in abundance in the Canary Islands and Teneriffe, in dry, rocky districts, where little else can grow, and where it attains a height of 10 feet, with the branches spreading 15 or 20 feet. It is one of the kinds that furnish the drug known as Euphorbium. The milky juice exudes from incisions made in the branches, and is so acrid that it excoriates the hand when applied to it. As it hardens it falls down in small lumps, and those who collect it are obliged to tie cloths over their mouths and nostrils to exclude the small, dusty particles, as they produce incessant sneezing. As a medicine its action is violent, and it is now rarely employed. There are a vast number of species of Euphorbia, varying exceedingly in their general appearance, but all of them having a milky juice which contains active properties. Many of them can scarcely be distinguished from cactuses so far as relates to external appearances, but the milky exudation following a puncture determines their true character. E. grandidens is a tall-growing, branching species, and attains a height of 30 feet. The natives of India use the juice of E. antiquorum, when diluted, as a purgative. The juice of E. heptagona and other African species is employed to poison arrows; the juice of E. cotinifolia is used for the same purpose in Brazil. The roots of E. gerardiana and E. pithyusa are emetic, while E. thymifolia and E. hypericifolia possess astringent and aromatic properties. The poisonous principle which pervades these plants is more or less dissipated by heat. The juice of E. cattimandoo furnishes caoutchouc of a very good quality, which, however, becomes brittle, although soaking in hot water renders it again pliable. E. phosphorea derives the name from the fact of its sap emitting a phosphorescent light, on warm nights, in the Brazilian forests.
198. Euterpe edulis.—The assai palm of Para. It grows in swampy lands, and produces a small fruit thinly coated with clotted flesh of which the inhabitants of Para manufacture a beverage called assai. The ripe fruits are soaked in warm water and kneaded until the fleshy pulp is detached. This, when strained, is of a thick, creamy consistence, and, when thickened with cassava farina and sweetened with sugar, forms a nutritious diet, and is the daily food of a large number of the people.
199. Euterpe montana.—The center portion of the upper part of the stem of this West Indian palm, including the leaf bud, is eaten either when cooked as a vegetable or pickled, but the tree must be destroyed in order to obtain it.