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A large genus of American, mostly tropical, climbing shrubs, having compound leaves and showy somewhat tubular flowers. B. capreolata is the cross vine of the Southern United States. The trumpet creeper was formerly considered to be of this genus.

year, in which a day is added to the month of February on account of the excess of the tropical year (365 d. 5 h. 48 m. 46 s.) above 365 days. But one day added every four years is equivalent to six hours each year, which is 11 m. 14 s. more than the excess of the real year. Hence, it is necessary to suppress the bisse…

A small scrubby tree (Balanites Ægyptiaca) growing in dry regions of tropical Africa and Asia.

myrtaceous tree (Eucalyptus globulus), of the loftiest proportions, now cultivated in tropical and warm temperate regions for its timber, and as a protection against malaria. The essential oil is beginning to be used in medicine. The timber is very useful. See Eucalyptus. -- Blue jack, Blue stone, blue vitriol; sulph…

A large and powerful serpent of tropical America, sometimes twenty or thirty feet long. See Illustration in Appendix.

A wading bird (Cancroma cochlearia) of the tropical parts of South America. Its bill is somewhat like a boat with the keel uppermost.

A large tropical fish (Orcynus pelamys) allied to the tunny. It is about three feet long, blue above, with four brown stripes on the sides. It is sometimes found on the American coast.

of the animal, where they live several months and pass through their larval states. In tropical America one species sometimes lives under the human skin, and another in the stomach. See Gadfly.

A genus of plants of the order Nyctoginaceæ, from tropical South America, having the flowers surrounded by large bracts.

A very heavy wood of a reddish color, imported from Brazil and other tropical countries, for cabinet-work, and for dyeing. The best is the heartwood of Cæsalpinia echinata, a leguminous tree; but other trees also yield it. An interior sort comes from Jamaica, the timber of C. Braziliensis and C. crista. This is often d…

n elongated spiral shell, often of large size. The species are numerous ingabundant in tropical America.

the genus Thamnophilus, and allied genera; -- called also batarg. Many species inhabit tropical America. -- Bush tit (Zoöl.), a small bird of the genus Psaltriparus, allied to the titmouse. P. minimus inhabits California.

One of the seeds or large beans of a tropical vine (Entada scandens) used for making purses, scent bottles, etc.

Base; wicked and mean; cowardly; despicable. Arnold had sped his caitiff flight. W. Irving.

. Calabar bean, The of a climbing legumious plant (Physostigma venenosum), a native of tropical Africa. It is highly poisonous. It is used to produce contraction of the pupil of the eye; also in tetanus, neuralgia, and rheumatic diseases; -- called also ordeal bean, being used by the negroes in trials for witchcraft.…

nsil, made from the dry shell of a calabash or gourd. Calabash tree. (Bot.), a tree of tropical America (Crescentia cujete), producing a large gourdike fruit, containing a purgative pulp. Its hard shell, after the removal of the pulp, is used for cups, bottles, etc. The African calabash tree is the baobab.…

A genus of tropical plants, with large leaves and often with showy flowers. The Indian shot. (C. Indica) is found in gardens of the northern United States.

A tenacious, elastic, gummy substance obtained from the milky sap of several plants of tropical South America (esp. the euphorbiaceous tree Siphonia elastica or Hevea caoutchouc), Asia, and Africa. Being impermeable to liquids and gases, and not readly affected by exposure to air, acids, and alkalies, it is used, espec…

A tree (Anacardium occidentale) of the same family which the sumac. It is native in tropical America, but is now naturalized in all tropical countries. Its fruit, a kidney-shaped nut, grows at the extremity of an edible, pear-shaped hypocarp, about three inches long. Casbew nut, the large, kidney-shaped fruit of the ca…

Myriapoda; esp. the large, flattened, venomous kinds of the order Chilopoda, found in tropical climates. they are many-jointed, and have a great number of feet. [Written also centipede (