278 



EUPHORBIACEiE. 



[Diclinous Exogens. 



The roots of some are emetic. According to Deslongchamps, the powdered root of E. 

 Gerardiana vomits easily in doses of 1 8 or 20 grams. The root of Euphorbia Ipecacu- 

 anha is said, by Barton, to be equal to the true Ipecacuanha, Ln some respects superior ; 

 and not mipleasant either in taste or smell. E. PithjTisa in the jVIediteiTanean is also 

 esteemed. Euphorbia thymifoUa is somewhat aromatic and astiingent, and is prescribed 

 in India m the diarrhoea of children, and as a vermifuge. In the same way is employed 

 E. hypericifoha, a plant of tropical America, which is astringent and somewhat narcotic. 

 Nevertheless E. balsamifera has no such qualities, and is eaten Avhen cooked. E. mauri- 

 tanica is also employed as a condiment, but its acridity is by no means inconsiderable ; 

 they say it is used to adulterate Scammony. The sap of E. phosphorea shines with a 

 phosphorescent light in a warm night in the ancient forests of Brazil. 



The genus Pedilanthus stands nearest to Euphorbia, and is not less potent in its qua- 

 lity ; P. tithymaloides has an acrid bitter milk ; a decoction of the di'ied shrub of it and 

 P. padifolius (called Jewbush) is employed in syphilitic cases, and in amenorrhcea ; the 

 root is emetic. Some of the trees again are among the most poisonous of all that tro- 

 pical countries produce. The juice of Excsecaria Agallocha, and even its smoke when 

 burnt, affects the eyes with intolerable pain, as has been experienced occasionally 

 by sailors sent ashore to cut fuel, who, accordmg to Rumphius, liaATiig accidentally 

 rubbed theii' eyes with the juice, became bhnded, and I'an about like distracted men, 

 and some of them finally lost theu* sight. This juice is described as being thick, nau- 

 seous, and a violent pm*gative. The smoke of the burning branches is said to mjure 

 the eyesight. Agallochum or Aloes wood, an mflammable, fragrant, resinous substance, 

 has been supposed to belong to this plant, but is really produced by quite a different 

 race. See AquiLARiACEiE. The famous Manchineel tree, Hippomane Mancinella, is said 

 to be so poisonous that persons have died from merely sleeping beneath its shade. 

 This is doubted, mdeed, by Jacquin, who, however, admits its extremely venomous 

 quaUties ; but it is by no means improbable that the story has some fomidation in truth, 

 particularly if, as Ad. de Jussieu trtdy remarks, the volatile nature of the poisonous 

 principle of these plants is considered, and the various degi'ees of susceptibihty of such 

 influences in the human constitution. The juice of Manchineel is pm'e white, and a 

 single drop of it falling on the skin burns Uke fire, fonning an ulcer often difficult to 

 heal. The fitiit, which is beautiful, and looks like an apple, is tm'gid vAxh a similar 

 fluid, but in a milder form ; the burnmg it causes in the Hps of those who bite it guards 

 the careless from the danger 

 of eating it. The juice of 

 Hura crepitans is stated to 

 be of the same fatal natm'e as 

 that of Excsecaria ; its seeds 

 are said to have been admi- 

 nistered to negro slaves as 

 purgatives, in number not 

 exceeding 1 or 2, with fatal 

 consequences. The juice of 

 Sapiumaucuparium isreputed 

 poisonous. A case is men- 

 tioned by Tussac of a gar- 

 dener whose nostrils became 

 swollen and seized with ery- 

 sipelatous phlegmasis, in con- 

 seqence of the fumes only of 

 this plant. The sap of Com- 

 mia cochinchinensis is white, 

 tenacious, emetic, purgative, 

 and deobstruent. Cautiously 

 administei-ed, it is said to be 

 a good medicine m obstinate 

 dropsy and obstructions. 



The juice of this Order is not, however, always as dangerous as in the instances just 

 given. That of Siphonia elastica, a tree inhabitmg Guayana and Brazil, yields the 

 bottle India Rubber, which is ^wovra m Europe ; in preparing it the natives smear clay 

 moulds with repeated layers of the juice, at the same time dr;y'mg it m smoke. Aleu- 

 rites triloba, whose seeds mil be mentioned presently, exudes a gummy substance which 

 the natives of Tahiti chew ; A. laccifera fm-nishes gum lac in Ceylon ; and the secre- 

 tions of certam Crotons, viz. Draco and sanguiferum, become a similar red substance 

 in the tropical parts of America. 



Among the crowd of emetic and purgative plants having more or less reputation 



Fig. CXCIV.— Fruit of Hura crepitans. 



Fig. CXCIV. 



