212 



I agree with Von Martins, Brown, and other botanists, who consider Strych- 

 neae a mere section of Apocyneee, rather than a distinct order : it differs chiefly 

 in its peltate naked seeds and simple succulent fruit. In consequence of its 

 ciliated petioles, I am unwilling to refer Gardneria to Loganieee. 



Plumieria is the most succulent genus of the order. 



Geography. Natives of nearly the same localities as Asclepiadeee, with 

 the exception that they are less abundant at the Cape of Good Hope. 



Properties. Not very different from those of Asclepiadese, but perhaps 

 rather more suspicious. The order contains species with the same purgative, 

 the same acrid, the same febrifugal qualities. The bark of Cerbera Manghas 

 is purgative ; that of Echites antidysenterica is astringent and febrifugal. The 

 leaves of Nerium Oleander contain an abundance of gallic acid ; the Vahea of 

 Madagascar and Urceola elastica a notable quantity of caoutchouc. The fruit 

 of the succulent-fruited genera is emetic ; and yet that of Carissa edulis is eaten 

 in Nubia. Delile Cent. 11. The bark of the root and the sweet-smelling 

 leaves of Nerium odorum are considered by the native Indian doctors as power- 

 ful repellents, applied externally. The root, taken internally, acts as a poison. 

 Ainslie, 2. 23. It would seem, from an examination by Mr. Arnott of flower- 

 buds of a milk-tree called Hya-hya in Demerara, that this remarkable vegeta- 

 ble production belongs to this order. It is described by Mr. Smith, its Euro- 

 pean discoverer, to yield a copious stream of thick, rich, milky fluid, destitute of 

 all acrimony, and only leaving a slight clamminess upon the lips. A tree which 

 was felled on the banks of a small stream had completely whitened the water 

 in an hour or two. Mr. Arnott calls it Tabernffimontana utilis. Jameson's 

 Journal, Ap. 1830. The milk has been analyzed by Dr. Christison, who finds 

 it to consist of a small proportion of caoutchouc, and a large proportion of a 

 substance possessing in some respects peculiar properties, which appear to place 

 it intermediate between caoutchouc and the resins : it probably, therefore, has 

 no nutritive qualities. Ed. JV*. Ph. Joum. June 1830, p. 34. The Cream fruit 

 of Sierra Leone belongs here ; birdlime is obtained in Madagascar from the 

 Voacanga ; and the caoutchouc of Sumatra is produced by the genus Urceola. 

 Brown in Congo, 449. The root of Plumeria obtusa is used as a cathartic in 

 Java. Ainslie, 2. 137. The Conessi Bark of the British Materia Medica, the 

 Palapatta of the Hindoos on the Malabar coast, is the produce of Wrightia an- 

 tidysenterica : it is a valuable tonic and febrifuge. On the Coromandel side of 

 India it seems chiefly to be given in dysenteric affections. The milky juice of 

 the tree is used as a vulnerary. Ibid. 1. 88. The Wrightia tinctoria is ex- 

 tremely valuable as a dyer's plant,- the blue colour it yields equalling Indigo. 

 The Sarsaparilla of India is chiefly the root of Periploca indica : a decoction of 

 it is prescribed by European practitioners in cutaneous diseases, scrofula, and 

 venereal affections. Ibid. 1. 382. An infusion of the leaves of Allamanda ca- 

 thartica is a valuable cathartic. Ibid. 2. 9. The leaves of Cynanchum Argel 

 are used in Egypt for adulterating Senna. A powerful poison is yielded by the 

 kernel of the Tanghin tree of Madagascar, (Cerbera Tanghin,) a single seed 

 being sufficient to destroy twenty persons : see the Botanical Magazine, folio 

 2968, for an excellent account of this plant. The Strychnos colubrina is used 

 in Java in intermittent fever, and as an anthelmintic. According to Horsfield, 

 the Malays prepare from it an excellent bitter tincture. Virey says, in an 

 over-dose it occasions tremors and vomiting. Ainslie, 2. 203. The St. Igna- 

 tius's bean, (Strychnos St. Ignatii,) called Papeeta in India, is prescribed by 

 the native practitioners of India in cholera with success : it is mixed with Je- 

 hiree or Durreoaye Narriol (Cocos maldivica.) If given in over-dose, vertigo 

 and convulsions come on ; but they are easily cured by lemonade drank largely. 

 Trans. M. and P. S. Calc. 3. 432. The seeds of Strychnos Nux vomica are 

 well known, under the latter name, for containing a dangerous narcotic pro- 



