stems. Lean's usually divided, sometimes simple, sheathing at the base. Flowers in 

 timbels, white, pink, yellow, or blue, generally surrounded by jm involucrum. 



Affixities. It is unnecessary to insist upon the relation of this order 

 and Araliaceae, which scarcely differ. With Saxifragese it agrees in habit, if 

 Hydrocotyle is compared with Chrysosplenium, and if the sheathino- and 

 divided leaves of the two orders are considered. To Geraniaceae, Decandolle 

 remarks that they are allied, in consequence of the cohesion of the carpella 

 around a woody axis, and of the umbellate flowers which grow opposite the 

 leaves, and also because the affinity of Geraniaceae to V^ites, and of the latter 

 to Araliaceae, is not to be doubted. To me it appears, that the most certain 

 affinity of Umbelliferse is with Ranunculaceae, with which they agree in habit, 

 in properties, in the presence of a large quantity of albumen, of solitary seeds 

 in the carpella, a minute embryo, and distinct styles ; and from which they difter 

 in their inferior fruit and definite perigynous stamens, rather than in any thing 

 else of real importance. The arrangement of this order has only within a 

 few years arrived at any very definite state ; the characters upon which genera 

 and tribes could be formed were for a long while unsettled : it is, however, 

 now generally admitted, that the number and development of the ribs of the 

 fruit, the presence or absence of reservoirs of oil called vittse, and the form of 

 the albumen, are the leading peculiarities which require to be attended to. 

 Upon this subject see Koch's Dissertation, Lagasca in the Otiosas Espa- 

 nolas, and Decandolle's Memoire, — especially the last. I do not give the 

 characters of the sub-orders or tribes, because they are rather to be considered 

 artificial divisions than natural groups. 



Geography. Natives chiefly of the northern parts of the northern 

 hemisphere, inhabiting groves, thickets, plains, marshes, and waste places. 

 According to the investigation of M. Decandolle, the following is the propor- 

 tion of the order found in diflPerent parts of the world : — 



In the Old World C63t ^ 



In America 159 [ I In the northern hemisphere 679 



In Australia 54?" "l In the southern ditto 205 



In scattered islands 14j "- 



Properties. The properties of this order require to be considered 

 under two points of view : firstly, those of the vegetation ; and, secondly, those 

 of the fructification. The character of the former is, generally speaking, 

 suspicious, and often poisonous in a high degree ; as in the case of Hemlock, 

 Fool's Parsley, and others, which are deadly poisons. Nevertheless, the stems 

 of the Celery, the leaves of Parsley and Samphire, the roots of the Skirret, 

 the Carrot, the Parsnep, and the tubers of Qinanthe pimpinelloides and 

 Bunium bulbocastannm, are wholesome articles of food. The fruit, vulgarly 

 called thfe seeds, is in no case dangerous, and is usually a warm and 

 agreeable aromatic, as Caraway, Coriander, Dill, Anise, &:c. From the 

 stem, when wounded, sometimes flows a stimulant, tonic, aromatic, gum- 

 resinous concretion, of much use in medicine; as Opoponax, which is pro- 

 cured from Pastinaca opoponax in the Levant, and Assafoetida from the 

 Ferula of that name in Persia. Gum ammoniac is supposed to be obtained 

 from Heracleum gummiferum. It is a gum resin of a pale yellow colour, 

 having a faint but not unpleasant odour, with a bitter, nauseous taste. In- 

 ternally applied, it is a valuable dcobstruent and expectorant. It is said by 

 Dr. Paris to be, in combination with rhubarb, a useful medicine in mesen- 

 teric affections, by correcting viscid secretions. Ainslie, 1. 160. The sub- 

 stance called Galbanum is produced by some plant of this order, which is 

 supposed to be what botanists call Bubon Galbanum. It is a stimu- 

 lant of the intestinal canal and uterus, and is found to allay that nervous 

 irrita1)ility which often accompanies hysteria. Ainslie, 1. 143. iEthusa 



