ASARALES ] 



ARISTOLOCHIACE/E. 



793 



yiicw adopted by Eudlicher, myself formerly, and many others. I confeas, however, tliat a 

 more attentive study of the Order and its atfinities has greatly weakened this opinion, and 

 that I cannot but consider that there is no very strongly marked affinity to be traced between 

 Birthworts and other plants. Eu- 

 dlicher compares them, with some 

 justice, to Yams and Taccads, but 

 they ar3 most certainly dicotyle- 

 donous. Their regularly ternary 

 structure and incompletely fomied 

 wood indicate, however, a strong 

 tendency towards the condition of 

 Dictyogens, and perhaps they may 

 be looked upon as the best point 

 of transition to that class from 

 Exogens. It is in some measure 

 on that account that they have 

 been placed in this arrangement 

 last in the whole series, and there- 

 fore at a point Avhere we may 

 suppose that the chain of Orders 

 must retiirn into itself. If their 

 association with Sandalworts and 

 Loranths should be objected to, I 

 would submit that the correspon- 

 dence of these Orders in then- 

 epigynous apetalous flowers, and 

 minute embryo in copious albu- 

 men, are cii'cumstances of agree- 

 ment of no mean importance, and 

 that it is at present impossible to 

 discover any better station for 

 either of the tlu*ee Orders. 



Very common in the equinoctial 

 parts of South America, and rare 

 in other coimtries ; found spar- 

 ingly in North America, Em-ope, 

 and Siberia ; more frequently in 

 the basm of the IMediteiTauean, 

 and in small numbers in India. 



Birthworts are in general tonic 

 and stimulating ; Aristolochia is, as 

 its name impUes, considered em- 



menagogue, especially the Em-o- Fig. DXXVI. 



pean species rotunda, longa, and '-^- . - 



Clematitis. An infusion of the dried leaves of Aristolochia bracteata, a nauseously bitter 

 plant, is given by native Indian practitioners as an anthehnintic ; fresh, bruised and 

 mixed with castor oil, they are considered as a valuable remedy in obstinate psoi-a. 

 The root of A. indica is supposed by the Hindoos to possess emmcnagogue and antar- 

 thritic virtues ; it is very bitter. The A. fragrantissima, called in Peru, Bejuca de la 

 Estrella, or Star Reed, is highly esteemed in Peini as a remedy against dysenteries, 

 mahgnaut inflammatory fevers, colds, rheumatic pains, &c. The root is the part used. 

 The power of the root of A. serpen taria in arrestmg the progress of the worst forms of 

 typhus, is highly spoken of by Barton ; it has an aromatic smell, approaching that of 

 Valerian, with a warm, bitterish, pungent taste. It acts as a stimulant, tonic, diapho- 

 retic, and in certain cases as an antispasmodic and anodyne. It is peculiarly useful in sup- 

 porting the strength and in allaying the iri-egular action which attends great febrile 

 debihty. Dr. Chapman considers it "admirably suited to check vomiting and to tran- 

 quilhse the stomach, more particulariy in bihous cases." As its name implies, it is used 

 as an antidote to serpent bites, a quality in which several other species pai-ticipate, among 

 which may be mentioned the A. trilobata, a Jamaica plant, also employed as a sudden 

 and powerful sudorific, and the Carthagena A. aiiguicida, concerning which Jac(|Uiii 

 writes, that the juice of the root chewed and introduced uito the mouth of a serpent so 

 stupifies it that it may for a long time be handled with impunity ; if the reptde is com- 



Fig. DXXVI.— Bragantia Blumei. 1. a section of its wood ; 2. one of its flowers ; 3. a seed ; 4. tho 

 same divided perrendicularly ; 5. anthers and stigma of Asarum. 



