308 MENISPERMACE^. [Diclinous Exogens. 



peltate leaves. According to Aug. de St. Hilaire, the Order is related to Spurge- 

 worts through Phyllanthus, the male flowers of which are in certain species abso- 

 lutely the same as those of Cissampelos. It is also thought to approach Mallowworts 

 by those genera which, like Caperonia, have stipulate leaves, and distinct caducous 

 petals separated from the calyx by the torus. But, on the other hand, the 

 small flowers having no distinct separation of calyx and corolla, the disunited sexes, 

 the large embryo, and the peculiar habit, are quite at variance with a series so 

 high in the scale as the Anonal Alliance ; and the resemblance of the species to 

 Smilax is such as to persuade a Botanist that the two Orders cannot but have 

 some more intimate affinity than would be suspected from their widely different 

 embryo. To me it seems clear that whatever lateral affinity there may be between 

 Menispermads and the great heraiaphrodite Orders with hj^ogynous stamens and disu- 

 nited cai-pels, yet that their direct relationship is with Spurges and similar Orders. At 

 the same time, the separation of Kadsurads from the Anonal, and its insertion among 

 the unisexual Alliances, tends to show the justice of the ^'iews of Botanists so long as 

 that change was not effected. I once relied upon the zoneless wood of several species to 

 remove the position of Menispermads altogether from among Exogens ; but M. Decaisne 

 has shown {Mem. Lardizab.) that this peculiarity is not constant, such plants as Coc- 

 culus lancifolius and Cissampelos Pareu'a ha\dng wood with numerous concentric zones. 

 As I do not propose to insist, for the present, upon the value of the woody structure 

 for systematical purposes, the reader is referred to M. Decaisne's Treatise and Gaudi- 

 chaud's Organogr. xxviii. f. 12 and 13, for infonnation upon this point. It may be as 

 well, however, to add that, according to Endlicher, the root of Cissampelos Caapeba can 

 hardly be distinguished from the Pepper of that name. A very curious and xmexpected 

 approach to Nutmegs is furnished by Mr. Miers' genus Anomospermimi, which has 

 iniminated albumen. 



One of the most singular facts connected with the Menispermaceous Order, consists in 

 the position of the seed, which is altered materially from that of the ovule in the progress 

 of the growth of the fruit. According to Aug. de St. Hilaire, the ovule of Cissampelos 

 is attached to the middle of the side of a straight ovary, which after fecimdation gra- 

 dually incurves its apex until the style touches the base of the pericarp, when the two sur- 

 faces being thus brought into contact unite, and a drupe is formed, the seed of which is 

 curved Uke a horse-shoe, and the cavity of which is divided by a spurious incomplete 

 dissepiment, consisting of two plates : the attachment of the seed is at the top of the false 

 dissepiment, on each side of wliich it extends equally. Several of the species of Coc- 

 culus are so remarkably tenacious of life, that if even a large branch be broken at a 

 considerable distance from the ground, the upper portion immediately throws out a 

 slender filiform root, which speedily re-estabhshes the connection with the soil, and 

 preserves the plant. Such a root has been seen 8 feet long, and not thicker than a 

 common packthread. — Wight. The hennaphrodite genera Spirospermum and Agdestis 

 cannot be regarded as belonging here ; their true position is unsettled. Phytocrene 

 or Gynocephalium too, must have another station ; see tlie Urtical Alliance. 



This Order is common in the tropics of Asia and America, but uncommon out of those 

 latitudes : all Africa contains but 5, North America 6, and Siberia 1. The species are 

 universally found in woods, twming round other plants. Cocculi are most common in 

 the Old World, Cissampeli in the New. 



Active narcotic and bitter qualities prevail among the species ; the former in excess, 

 rendering them poisonous ; the latter, causing them to be regarded as valuable tonics. A 

 few are mucilaginous. 



The roots of Cocculus palmatus, a herbaceous plant, vAth the au' of a Bryony, found 

 on the coast of Eastern Africa, is largely in use as a tonic, under the name of Kalmnba 

 or Calumba root. In this plant, the bitterness is mixed with mucilage, and contains a 

 somewhat narcotic principle called Calumbine. The roots of Cocculus peltatus in Mala- 

 bar, and of C. flavescens in the Moluccas, are found to be substitutes for Calumba ; it is 

 also said that a root called Radix Lopeziana belongs to some plant of tliis Order. — Endl. 

 In fact, medical men in all the countries where the Order is found believe m the power- 

 ful action of the roots. In Brazil those of Cocculus platy phyllus, and cinerascens (called 

 Butua), Cissampelos ovalifoHa (or Orelha de Onga), in the West Indies of Cissampelos 

 Pareira (Pareira brava) and Caapeba, in Madagascar of Cissampelos mauritianus, in 

 Ceylon of Coscinium fenestratum (Woniwol or Venivel), in Senegal of Cocculus Bakis 

 are employed as tonics or diuretics. The Brazihans also use the roots of Cissampelos 

 glabeiTimus, and ebracteatus, against serpent bites. An mtoxicating spirit is distilled 

 from the root of Cissampelos obtecta. — Royle. That of Cissampelos glabra is said to 

 be extremely acrid. — Roxh. 



The bark, wood, and leaves, are also employed for the same purposes. The stalks 

 and leaves of Cocculus cordifolius are employed in an infusion called in Bengal Pachana, 

 much in use as a tonic ; while an extract of the stem, called Palo, is regarded as a 



