- Thrice wholesome fruit in this relaxing clime!
- Safely thou may’st their appetite indulge.
- Their arid skins will plump, their features shine: [140]
- No rheums,1 no dysenteric ails torment:
- The thirsty hydrops2 flies.—’Tis even averr’d,
- (Ah, did experience sanctify the fact;
- How many Lybians now would dig the soil,
- Who pine in hourly agonies away!) [145]
- This pleasing fruit, if turtle3 join its aid,
- Removes that worst of ails, disgrace of art,
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The loathsome leprosy’s4 infectious bane.
- THERE are, the muse hath oft abhorrent seen,
- Who swallow dirt;5 (so the chlorotic fair6 [150]
the English. The fruit has no resemblance to a cherry, either in shape or size; and bears, at its lower extremity, a nut (which the Spaniards name Anacardo, and physicians Anacardium) that resembles a large kidney-bean. Its kernel is as grateful as an almond, and more easy of digestion. Between its rhinds7 is contained a highly caustic oil; which, being held to a candle, emits bright salient sparkles, in which the American fortune-tellers pretended they saw spirits who gave answers to whatever questions were put to them by their ignorant followers. This oil is used as a cosmetic by the ladies, to remove freckles and sun-burning; but the pain they necessarily suffer makes its use not very frequent. This tree also produces a gum not inferior to Gum-Arabic;8 and its bark is an approved astringent. The juice of the cherry stains exceedingly. The long citron, or amber-coloured, is the best. The cashew-nuts, when unripe, are of a green colour; but, ripe, they assume that of a pale olive. This tree bears fruit but once a year.
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Mucous secretions from the eyes, nose, and mouth. Comparable perhaps to a head cold but often thought by eighteenth-century physicians to lead to further (and more serious) illnesses. ↩︎
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An accumulation of fluid in the soft tissue of the body, more commonly known as dropsy. The modern term is edema (or oedema). ↩︎
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Probably refers to the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), the only species of turtle indigenous to the Caribbean that has served as a significant food source for human beings. ↩︎
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A chronic condition affecting the skin and nerves, caused by the microorganism Mycobacterium leprae. ↩︎
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Geophagy or pica are the medical terms used for the practice of eating dirt. Eighteenth-century physicians and planters were fascinated with geophagy, which they believed to be a disorder that led to death. In certain instances, they posited that eating dirt was a means of committing suicide and thus a form of enslaved resistance. ↩︎
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Chlorosis (also called green sickness) was thought to be an illness that afflicted young women. It could be accompanied by a greenish hue and produce a desire to eat dirt. ↩︎
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The “Errata” list at the end of The Sugar-Cane indicates that “rhinds” should read “rinds.” ↩︎
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Edible sap of some trees in the genus Acacia. Used as a binder or stabilizer in foods and medicines. ↩︎