CoRTusALEs.] PLUMB AGINACE.E. 641 



The Order contains plants of very different qnalities ; ]jart are tonic and astrinpjent, 

 and part acrid and caustic in the highest degree. The root of Statice carohniana is one 

 of the most powerful astringents in the vegetable materia medica. The bruised fresh 

 bark of the root of Plumbago zeylanica acts as a vesicatory, and is applied in India to 

 buboes in their incipient state. Plumbago eui'opoea is employed by beggars to raise 

 ulcers upon their bodies to excite pity ; its root is so acrid that it is used in Roumelia 

 for caus-ng issues, and even as a vesicant. — Ann. Ch. 1. 249. But Sauvage de la Croix 

 says that a young woman, who had it applied, affii'med that the pain it occasioned was 

 intolerable, and that she felt as if Ijeing liayed alive. Administered internally in small 

 doses it is said to be as effectual an emetic as Ipecacuanha. It is said by Duroques to 

 have been used with considerable advantage in cases of cancer, for which purpose the 

 ulcers were dressed twice daily with olive oil in which the leaves had been infused. 

 Plumbago scandens is called Herbe du Diable in St. Domingo. Its root is said by 

 Martins to be the most active part, and to be a most energetic blistering agent when fresh. 

 It is appUed m pains of the ears, and admuiistered internally in hepatic ol>sti'uctions, &c. 

 Plumbago rosea is usually believed to he the Radix vesicatoria of Rumphius, which 

 being sliced and applied to the skin produces blisters, but less I'apidly and effectually 

 than Cantharides. Armeria vulgaris is regarded in Germany as an active diuretic. 

 From two di'achms to an ounce of the flowers freshly gathered and quickly dried should 

 be gently boiled and the patient allowed to drink of the decoction ad libitum. Some 

 aromatic, as Anise or Cinnamon, is added to the decoction. The remedy appears to cause 

 the excretion of urine in a direct manner. — Med. Gaz. xx. 144. As garden plants, 

 nearly the whole Order is much prized for beauty, particularly the Statices, many of 

 which are among the most lovely herbaceous plants we know. 



GENERA. 



I. Statices. — Petalsandl Limoniiim , TonrnQi. ,11. Plvmbagine.'e. — Pe-| fThela, l,om 

 styles distinct. Taxanthema, Neck. 



\ ,.rv.«^o n%-7M I Armeriastrum, Jaub. 



^S^M"'"- Ugialitis, ii.B. 



Eurychiton, Nimmo. | 



talsandstvles adherent. Ceratostigma, Bunge. 



Plumbago, T«„n„/. |;;£rdii«»*«. 



Numbers. Gen. 8. Sp. 160. 

 Position.— Primulaceae. — Plumbaginace.e. — Plantaginacea?. 



T T 



