286 EUPEOR BIA CE^. 



decomposed carefully with sulphuric acid, and the solution 

 containing the free acid evaporated. {Pkarm. Journ., April 

 30th, 1887.) According to Dr. H. Stillmark, croton seeds 

 contain Ricin, the poisonous principle of castor seeds, [See 



Toxicology. — The seeds are said to be used in Java for killing 

 fish^ and the oil has been shown to have the same effect upon 

 the carnivora as upon man. When eaten^ the seeds cause 

 nausea and eructation, followed by flatulent distension of the 

 abdomen^ colic and diarrhoea. A single seed is reported to 

 have proved fatal. The oil, in the dose of 1 drop, occasions 

 more or less of an acrid and burning sensation in the fauces 

 and oesophagus, a sense of warmth in the stomach, nausea, and 

 sometimes vomiting. In an hour or two, some gurgling or 

 slight colic is perceived in the bowels, followed somewhat 

 suddenly by a watery stool with tenesmus, and heat about the 

 anus. Within 24 hours eight or ten more stools follow, aiid 

 there is but little general disturbance of the economy, except 

 considerable weakness. Sometimes, instead of producmg 

 evacuations, the oil causes epigastric uneasiness and oppression, 

 palpitation of the heart, headache, feverishness, perspiration, 

 and sleep. It would appear that the acrid principle of the 

 oil is not the sole cause of its cathartic operation, for even after 

 being thoroughly washed with alcohol and rendered mild to 

 the taste, as well as incapable of pustulating the skin, it is stiu 

 strongly purgative. [Stille and Maisch.) No cases of poison- 

 ing by croton seeds or oil in India appear to have been recorded. 



During the expression of croton oil in India, the workmen, 

 who are naked, with the exception of a cloth round the loins, 

 have been observed to suffer from redness and irritation of the 

 Bkin, evidently produced by some volatile constituent of the oik 



CROTON OBLONGIFOLUS, ^^*- 



Hab.— -Bengal, Silhet, Behar, Central India, Deccan 

 Peninsula, Burma, and Ceylon. The root-bark, leaves, and 



fruit. 



