The Caranna Tree.
Caranna arbor.
A TALL East Indian tree, and a very beautiful one: the trunk is thick, and the bark upon it is brown and rough; that on the young branches is smooth and yellowish. The leaves are long and narrow, like those of some of our willow-trees. The flower is small and of a pale colour, and the fruit is of the bigness of an apple.
The resin called gum caranna, is a product of this tree; it is procured by cutting the branches; they send it in rolls covered with leaves of rushes; it is blackish on the outside, and brown within.
It is suposed a good nervous medicine, but it is rarely used.
Caragna.
A TALL and spreading tree of the West Indies, the branches are numerous, and irregular; the trunk is covered with a brown bark, the branches with a paler, they are brittle; the leaves are long and narrow, of a pale green, and sharp pointed; the flowers are small, the fruit is roundish and of the bigness of an apple. This is the best account we have of it, but this is far from perfect or satisfactory in every respect.
All that we use of it is a resin which oozes out of the bark, in the great heats; this is brown, somewhat soft, and we have it in oblong pieces, rolled up in rushes; we put it only externally; a plaister made of it is good for disorders of the head, and some say will cure the sciatica without internal medicines, but this is not probable.
