101 



America, of which a very small number reaches as far as Canada. In tho 

 Old World the known tropical proportion is much smaller, arising probably 

 from the species of India and equinoctial Africa not having been described 

 with the same care as those of America ; not above an eighth having been 

 found in tropical Africa, including the islands, and a sixth being perhaps about 

 the proportion in India. A good many species inhabit the Cape, where they 

 generally assume a succulent habit; and there are almost 120 species from 

 Europe, including the basin of the Mediterranean : of these, 10 only are found 

 in Great Britain, and 7 in Sweden. 



Properties. The excellent monograph of M. Adrien de Jussieu contains 

 the best information that exists upon this subject ; and I accordingly avail my- 

 self of it, making a few additions to his facts. The general property is that of 

 excitement, which varies greatly in degree, and consequently in effect. This 

 principle resides chiefly in the milky secretion of the order, and is most power- 

 ful in proportion as that secretion is abundant. The smell and taste of a few 

 are aromatic ; but in the greater part the former is strong and nauseous, the 

 latter acrid and pungent. The hairs of some species are stinging. The bark 

 of various species of Croton is aromatic, as Cascarilla ; and the flowers of some, 

 such as Caturus spiciflorus, give a tone to the stomach. Many of them act 

 upon the kidneys, as several species of Phyllanthus, the leaves of Mercurialis 

 annua, and the root of Ricinus communis. Several are asserted by authors to 

 be useful in cases of dropsy : some Phyllanthuses are emmenagogue. The 

 bark of several Crotons, the wood of Croton Tiglium and common Box, the 

 leaves of the latter, of Cicca disticha, and of several Euphorbias, are sudorific, 

 and used against syphilis ; the root of various Euphorbias, the juice of Com- 

 mia, Anda, Mercurialis perennis, and others, are emetic ; and the leaves of Box 

 and Mercurialis, the juice of Euphorbia, Commia, and Hura, the seeds of Ri- 

 cinus, Croton Tiglium, &c. &c, are purgative. Many of them are also dan- 

 gerous, even in small doses, and so fatal in some cases, that no practitioner 

 would dare to prescribe them ; as, for example, Manchineel. In fact, there is 

 a gradual and insensible transition in this order, from mere stimulants to the 

 most dangerous poisons. The latter have usually an acrid character, but some 

 of them are also narcotic, as those Phyllanthuses, the leaves of which are 

 thrown into water to intoxicate fish. Whatever the stimulating principle of 

 Euphorbiacefe may be, it seems to be of a very volatile nature, because appli- 

 cation of heat is sufficient to dissipate it. Thus the root of the Jathropha Mani- 

 hot or Cassava, which, when raw, is one of the most violent of poisons, be- 

 comes a wholesome nutritious article of food when roasted. In the seeds the 

 albumen is harmless and eatable, but the embryo itself is acrid and dangerous. 

 Independently of this volatile principle, there are two others belonging to the 

 order, which require to be noticed : the first of these is Caoutchouc, that most 

 innocuous of all substances, produced by the most poisonous of all families, 

 which may be almost said to have given a new arm to surgery, and which has 

 become an indispensable necessary of life ; it exists in Artocarpere and else- 

 where, but is chiefly the produce of species of Euphorbiaceee. The other is 

 the preparation called Turnsol, which, although chiefly obtained from Crozo- 

 phora (Croton) tinctoria, is to be procured equally abundantly from many other 

 plants of the order. 



The properties of Euphorbiaceaj are so important, that I do not think I should 

 fulfil the object of this work, if I did not, in addition to the foregoing general 

 view of the order, add a detailed list of the qualities of the most important 

 species named by writers. 



Acalypha Cupameni, an Indian herb, has a root which, bruised in hot wa- 

 ter, is cathartic ; a decoction of its leaves is also laxative. Rheede, 10. 161. 

 The nut of Aleurites ambinux is eatable and aphrodisiac, but rather indigesti- 



