The timber of the tamarind, although it is a tree of quick growth, is heavy, firm, and hard, and may be converted into many useful parts of building. The fruit is used both in food and medicine; the pulp is connected to the seeds by numerous tough strings: as a medicine, Dr. Cullen was of opinion that it is best preserved in the pods. The use of this fruit was first learned from the Arabians, it contains a larger proportion of acid with saccharine matter, than is usually found in the acid dulcet fruits, and is therefore not only employed as a laxative, but also for abating thirst and heat in various inflammatory complaints, and for correcting putrid disorders, especially those of a bilious kind; in which the cathartic, antiseptic, and refrigerant qualities of the fruit have been found equally useful. When intended merely as a laxative it may be of advantage to join it with manna, or purgatives of a sweet kind, by which its use is rendered safer and more effectual. Three drachms of the pulp are usually sufficient to open the body; but, to prove moderately cathartic, one or two ounces are required. The leaves are sometimes used in sub-acid infusions; and, Alpinus says, a decoction of them kills the worms in children. The fruit is frequently made an ingredient in punch, and seldom fails to open the body; mixed with a decoction of borrage it is reputed excellent in allaying heat of urine, proceeding from a venereal cause. A good vinegar may be made from the fruit; a very agreeable cooling drink is made by simply mixing water with a few spoonfuls of it when preserved.
This tree is exceedingly common in Jamaica, grows to a vast bulk, and thrives well in the savanna lands, but best in deep, rich, brick, mould.
The fruit, or pods, are gathered in June, July, and August, attaining sooner to maturity in some parts than in others. The usual method of preparing the fruit for exportation is as follows: The pods are gathered when full ripe, which is known by their fragility, or easy breaking on a small pressure, between the finger and thumb. The fruit taken out of the pod, and cleared from the shelly fragments, is placed in layers, in a cask, and the boiling syrup from the teache or first copper in the boiling house, just before it begins to granulate, is poured in, till the cask is filled; the syrup pervades every part quite to the bottom, and, when cool, the cask is headed for sale. The more elegant method is, with sugar well clarified with eggs, till a clear transparent syrup is formed, which gives the fruit a much pleasanter flavour.