PHARMACOP@IAL VEGETABLE DRUGS. 
does not record the first term, although the name grana tiglii is therein 
accredited to Samuel Dale’s Pharmacologia, (the first edition of which 
appeared in 1693) (179). 
As regards the use of the oil derived from the seeds, E. von 
Hirschheydt, in the exhaustive historical introduction to his disserta- 
tion (31842), mentions that Peter Borellus, a French physician (1620- 
1689), in 1657 lauds the cathartic virtues of the oil which in as small 
an amount as two drops caused purging even when merely rubbed into 
the skin. Similar mention of its virtues is made by Rumphius (Her- 
barium Amboinense, 1750). Geoffroy (260) in his Materia Medica 
(1756) reports that the natives of India use this oil to make what they 
call the royal purging apple (poma cathartica), the mere odor of which 
is said to purge persons of delicate constitution. The directions for 
making this potent “apple” are as follows: 
Macerate an orange or lemon in oil of tilli (croton oil) for one 
month. Remove it, hold to the nostrils and inhale the breath; soon 
afterwards the bowels will move. 
About 1750, Cohausen, according to several authorities, employed 
the oil with success in cases of tenia. 
Although during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the 
remedy had been frequently used, it seems that toward the end of the 
eighteenth century it fell into oblivion, probably on account of the 
dangers attending its administration. However, its use was revived 
when in 1812 several English physicians, among them Drs. White and 
Marshall, observed the action of the seed in medical practice in India, 
and brought the drug again to the notice of the profession in Europe 
(209). Ainslie in 1813, and Conwell in 1819, by their publications gave 
it further prominence. In connection with its reintroduction we note 
the interesting fact that a Mr. Short then brought the drug to Europe 
and was so fortunate as to secure the right (license) to its exclusive 
sale in England. That it at once became an important drug is shown 
by the attention then given it in medical literature. An extensive list 
of references to the literature on croton tiglium covering the period 
from 1820 to 1835 alone, may be found in Hirschheydt’s disserta- 
tion (318a). According to the latter authority (1890) the seeds and 
the oil are seldom used in Europe other than in veterinary practice, as he 
states, on account of the uncontrollable influence exerted by the pres- 
ence of the powerfully toxic ricin (an albuminoid body) in the ee 
As already stated, the genus croton was established by Linnaeus in 
1737, the name being adopted from the Greek synonym for ricinus 
communis, the seeds of which, as also those of croton tiglium, have a 
resemblance to a tick (dog-tick, kroton in Greek). As to the origin of 
the term tiglium, some authorities ascribe it to the Moluccan island of 
Tilho, while others (696) believe it to be derived (by Dale?) from the 
Greek word tilos, meaning diarrhea. The botanical and vernacular 
synonyms antedating the name given by Linnaeus are numerous and 
are generally carried by the older botanico-medical works, e. g. by 
Dale (179), Bauhinus (47) and others. The post-Linnaean synonyms 
recorded in the Index Kewensis are rarely if ever seen in pharma- 
ceutical print and may well be reproduced. They are as follows: 
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