THE Indian Pine Kernels are little Almonds of a yellowish white Colour, the Size of a Pea, but much longer, of a disagreeable Taste, attended with a great Acrimony. These little Kernels are cover'd each with a Pellicle, or white Skin, very fine and thin, and a small Shell that is hard, but not very thick, which makes that it will break easily. These small Fruit grow in a Husk, or triangular Shell, where there are very often three Kernels together. The Plant that bears this Fruit is call'd, in Mr. Herman's Paradisus Batavus, Ricinus arbor fructu glabro, granatiglia Officinis dicta; which signifies the Ricinus, or a Kind of Vervain-Tree, with the smooth Fruit call'd in the Shops, Tyle-Seed, or Tilli-Berries; the Figure of the Plant, the Leaves and Flowers are unknown to me; nevertheless, I believe it is this Plant as here represented, that bears the Indian Nuts, which ought to be chosen fresh, plump and fleshy; the least fill'd with Husks, Shells, or other Filth and Dirt that can be. Take care that they be the true Nuts, and that the Palma Christi be not impos'd upon you in their Stead, which is difficult enough to distinguish, when the Palma Christi is not speckled; for when it is so, you can scarce be deceived: Otherwise when it carries the Colour of the Indian Nut, 'tis not easier to know the Difference.
The Use of the Nuts, or the Kernels of 'em, is to purge, and it is, indeed, one of the greatest Purgatives we have, which makes it that we ought not to meddle with them, but with great Care and Precaution, not venturing to administer them but to strong robust Bodies. As to the Quantity, one may take one, two, or three, according to the Constitution of the Person. Some affirm that it is nothing but the thin Membrane, or Skin that covers the Kernel, which gives it the purgative Quality, which I can assure you is not so.
There are other Indian Pine Kernels, which we call, improperly, little Pine Kernels. Besides we sell another Sort, call'd Barbary Pine Kernels, large Indian, or American Pine Kernels; these are those Sorts which Bauhinus calls Ricinus Americanus, semine nigro; the American Pine with the black Seed.
Besides these, there are two Sorts of Indian Pine Nuts which we do not trade in at all by Reason of their great Scarcity. The First are Kernels of the Size and Shape of the Filbert, extremely white, and are cover'd with a hard Shell of different Colours; to wit, grey and reddish; these grow three together in a Shell, of a triangular Figure; the Plant which produces them being call'd Ricinus fructu maximo, or the Ricinus, with the large Fruit.
The second sort are little long Kernels, of the Bigness of a Pin's Head, spotted a little, as the Palma Christi, which grow three together, in a little three-corner'd Pod, of the Size of a Pea: These little Pods, or Shells, differ from the other Sort, in that about the Shell and the Husk there are five little hairy greenish Leaves, which altogether resemble the Figure taken from them. The Plant Leaves which these small Pine Kernels have, are exactly like those of Dittany, only that these are greenish, and those of Dittany are whitish. These little Fruits are extreamly scarce, and the Plant that bears them is call'd Ricinus Indicus fructu minimo, the Indian Pine with the least Kernel. As for the Palma Christi, the great and the small, together with the Spurge Berry, I shall say nothing, because many Authors have treated of 'em; and the rather because honest People will have nothing to do with them.