tobacco, a narcotic stimulant, and causes giddiness in persons unaccustomed to it, excoriates the mouth, and is so burning that Western nations will be slow to adopt this Eastern habit. BLADDER NUT.--A rather inappropriate name for the seed pods and small seeds of one of our common large deciduous shrubs, the _Staphylea trifolia_. It is sometimes planted for ornament. The small white flowers are produced in hanging racemes, succeeded by large bladdery pods, hence its common name. BRAZIL NUT.--The fruit of _Bertholletia excelsa_, a lofty tree of the myrtle family (_Myrtaceæ_). The tree attains a height of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, with stems three to four feet in diameter. The leaves are broad, smooth, and about two feet long, rather thick, and of the texture of leather. The fruit is produced mainly on the uppermost branches, and is globular, four to six inches in diameter, with a brittle husk on the outside, and within this a hard, tough, woody shell, fully one-half inch thick, containing a large number of the closely packed, three-sided, rough nuts, about an inch and a half to two inches or over in length, as seen in Fig. 101. The kernels are very white, solid and oily. When mature the fruit falls entire, and the natives of the country collect them, splitting the shells to obtain the nuts. An occasional entire fruit is sent to other countries, as a curiosity, or for the cabinet of some botanist. The Brazil nut is not only indigenous to Brazil, but also of Guiana, Venezuela (forming immense forests on the Orinoco, where they are called Juvia), and southward on the Rio Negra and in the valley of the Amazon. In fact, the supply appears to be inexhaustible; the only difficulty is in getting the nuts from the forests to some point where they can be shipped out of the country. The principal export is from Para, but there are many smaller cities and towns where a load of these nuts may be obtained on short notice. A very superior oil may be obtained from the nuts, by pressure, but the principal use for them is for desserts and confectionery. They are always abundant in our city markets. [Illustration: FIG. 101. BRAZIL NUT.] BREAD NUT.--The fruit of a large tree, the _Brosimum Alicastrum_, of the bread fruit family (_Artocarpaceæ_), native of the West Indies, but best known in Jamaica. The botanical authorities disagree in regard to this species, some claiming that it is a large tree, with wood similar to mahogany; others that it is only a small shrub, only five or six feet high. It has lance-shaped leaves, male and female flowers in globular heads, and usually on separate trees. The fruit is about the size of a plum, containing one seed or nut, which is only edible after roasting. BUFFALO NUT.--See Oil nut. BUTTERNUT.--See Souari nut. BYZANTIUM NUT.--See Filberts, Chap. VI.