=ARECA.=--The _Areca Catechu_ is one of the sacred plants of India, producing the perfumed Areca Nuts, favourite masticatories of the Indian races. So highly is this nut esteemed by the natives, that they would rather forego meat and drink than their precious Areca Nuts, which they cut into narrow pieces, and roll up with a little lime in the leaves of the Pepper, and chew. The Areca Palm is known in Hindostan as _Supyari_, and in Japan as _Jambi_. The Hindus adorn their gods with these Nuts, and forbid respectable women to deck either their heads or bosoms with them. According to Indian tradition, Devadamani, subduer of the gods, once appeared at the court of King Vikramâditya, to play with him, clothed in a robe the colour of the sky, having in his hand and in his mouth an Areca Nut enveloped in a leaf of the Kalpa-tree. This probably explains the Indian custom of presenting an Areca Nut to guests, which is eaten with the leaf of the Betel. In China, a similar custom prevails, but the Nut given there is the Betel Nut. =ARISTOLOCHIA.=--The old English name of this plant was Birth-wort, derived from its reputed remedial powers in parturition--probably first suggested by the shape of the corolla--whence also its Greek name, from _aristos_, best, and _locheia_, delivery. According to Pliny, if the expectant mother desired to have a son, she employed Aristolochia, with the flesh of an ox.----Certain of the species are renowned, in some European countries, for having a wonderful influence over fishes and serpents. _A. Serpentaria_ is reputed to be so offensive to the serpent tribe, that they will not only shun the place where it grows, but will even flee from any traveller who carries a piece of the plant in his hand. The snake jugglers of Egypt are believed to stupefy these reptiles by means of a decoction distilled from the plant, and it is asserted that a few drops introduced into the mouth of a serpent will so intoxicate it as to render it insensible and harmless.----Apuleius recommends the use of Aristolochia against the Evil Eye.----The Birth-wort is under the dominion of Venus. =ARKA.=--This is the Indian name of the _Calotropis gigantea_, also called _Arkapatra_ and _Arkaparna_ (the lightning-leaved), the leaves of which present the cuneiform symbols of lightning. _Arka_, says De Gubernatis, is also the name of the Sun, and this explains why the Brahmins employed the leaf of the _Calotropis_ on the occasion of sacrificing to the Sun. In each part of the Arka it is stated that a portion of the human body can be distinguished. Notwithstanding its grand name, and its beautiful appearance, people have a dread of approaching it, lest it should strike them blind. The origin of this superstition is to be found in the word _Arka_, which means both the sun and the lightning.