128 



ARACE^. 



[Endogens. 



cold or temperate climates they are usually herbaceous, while in tropical countries they 

 are often arborescent and of considerable size, clinging to trees Ijy means of then- aerial 

 roots, which they protrude in abundance. In America, according to Humboldt (Distr. 

 Geogr. 196), their prmcipal station is on the submontane region, between 1200 and 

 3600 feet of elevation, where the chmate is temperate and rams abmidant. ^ 



An acrid principle generally pervades this Order, and exists in so high a degree 

 in some of them as to render them dangerous poisons. The most remarkable is the 

 Dumb Cane, or Dieffenbachia Seguina, a native oi the West Indies and South America, 

 growing to the height of a man : this plant has the property, when chewed, of swellmg 

 the tongue, and destroymg the power of speech. Hooker relates an accomit of a 

 gardener, who " incautiously bit a piece of the Dumb Cane, when his tongue swelled to 

 such a degi^ee that he could not move it ; he became utterly mcapable of speaking, and 

 was confined to the house for some days in the most excruciating torments." The same 

 excellent botanist adds, that it is said to impart an indelible stain to linen. P. BrowTie 

 states, that its stalk is employed to brmg sugar to a good gram when it is too \'iscid, 

 and cannot be made to granulate properly by the apphcation of Ume alone ; Crypto- 

 cor^Tie ovata is used for the same purpose. The leaves of Colocasia esculenta^ excite 

 violent sahvation and a bmnimg sensation in the mouth, as I have myself experienced. 

 Milk in which the acrid root of Arum triphyllum has been boiled has been kno\\Ti to 

 cure consumption. DC Notwithstanding this acridity, the flat under-groimd corms, 

 called roots, and the leaves of many Arads, are harmless, and even nutritive when 

 roasted or boiled ; as for mstance, those of Caladium 

 bicolor, poecile and violaceum, Colocasia esculenta, hima- 

 lensis, antiquorum, mucronata, and others, which, under 

 the names of Cocoa root, Eddoes, and Yams, are com- 

 mon articles of food m hot countries. Nevertheless the 

 juice of Caladium bicolor is cathartic and anthelmintic. 

 Whole fields of Colocasia macrorhiza are cultivated m 

 the South Sea Islands, under the name of Tara or Kopeh 

 roots. The corms of the Arum maculatum are com- 

 monly eaten by the country people in the Isle of Port- 

 land ; they are macerated, steeped, and the powder 

 obtamed from them is sent to London for sale under the 

 name of Portland Sago. They are universally culti- 

 vated in India, and known there under the names of 

 Kuchoo and Gaglee. Amm nymphseifolium, which Dr. 

 Roxbm-gh considers only a variety of C. antiquoinim, is 

 but rarely cultivated m Bengal. Arum mdicum, Man- 

 kuchoo and Man-guri of the Bengalese, is a species 

 much cultivated about the huts of the natives for its 

 esculent stems and small pendulous tubers. Arum 



campanulatum, now Amorphophallus, 01 of the Bengal- 

 ese, and which deserves to be called the Tehnga Potato, 



is also much cultivated, especially in the Northern Cu-- 



cars, according to Dr. Roxbrn-gh, where it] is highly 



esteemed for the wholesomer.ess and nom'ishmg quahty 



of its roots. In the Hunalayas, the species which is 



called Colocasia himalensis forms the principal portion 



of the food of the hill-people. Boyle. (Medicinally, the 



root in its recent state is stimulant, diaphoretic, and 



expectorant.) A similar starchy substance is yielded by 



Xanthosoma sagittifolia (Chou caraib), Peltandra v\r- 



gmica, and the huge and hideous Amorphophalii of the 



Indian Archipelago. The spadixes of some species 



have a fetid putrid smell ; others, such as Ainim cordi- 



folium, Itahcum, and maculatum, are found to disengage 



a sensible quantity of heat at the time when they are 



about to expand. The emanations from Ainmi Dracun- 



culus are extremely inconvenient ; when in flower they 



produce dizziness, head-ache, and vomitmg. A wi-iter 



m the Annals of Chemistry says that he was attacked 



with \4olent head-ache and sickness after gathering 



about 40 of the spadixes. Amorphophallus orixensis 



havmg exceedingly acrid roots, is, Avhen fresh, apphed 



in India by the natives in cataplasm 



Fig. LXXXVIIl. 

 to excite, or bring forward tumours. Dr, 



Fie. LXXXVIIl. — Arum maculatum, 



