CASHEW' NUT, anacardium oceidentale, a tree of the natural order anacardiaeece, a native probably of the tropical parts of both hemispheres, although it has been commonly regarded as of American origin. It is a spreading tree of no great height. It abounds in a clammy, milky juice, which turns black on exposure to the air, and is used in India for varnishing, but is so acrid as to produce painful inflammation when it comes in contact with the skin of some persons, or when they are exposed to its fumes. Others are appa rently unsusceptible of its influence. The fruit of this tree is a kidney-shaped nut about an inch long, seated on the thicker end of a pear-shaped fleshy stalk, from which the botanical character of the genus is derived. The shell is double, the outer shell being ash-colored, and very smooth; and between it and the inner is a layer of very caustic black juice. The kernel is oily, and very pleasant and wholesome, and is in common use as an article of food in tropical countries, being made into puddings, roasted, and in various ways prepared for the table. In the West Indies, it is put into wine, particu larly old Madeira wine, to which it is thought to communicate a peculiarly agreeable flavor, and for this use it is sometimes imported into Britain. It is also for the same
reason sometimes an ingredient in chocolate. Yet the vapor which arises from it in roasting, but which is derived from the coating of the kernel, and not from the kernel itself, is so acrid as to cause erysipelas and other painful affections of the face in those who conduct the process, unless great caution is used.—The fleshy stalk, sometimes called the cashew apple, varies iu size, being sometimes not much larger than a cherry, and sometimes as large as an orange, and is white, yellow, or red. It is perfectly free of the acridity characteristic of the natural order, is acid and eatable, very pleasant and refresh ing, and much used by the inhabitants of the countries in which the tree grows. A very pleasant vinous liquor is obtained from it by fermentation; and this by distillation yields a spirituous liquor, highly esteemed for its flavor. A gum which exudes from the bark of the tree, quite distinct from the milky juice already mentioned, is bland, and very similar to gum-arabic.