152 ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY. 



on sticks of Oleander used as spits. The leaves of, what appears to me, Wrightia tincforia 

 are, I learn, employed in Mangalore as an effectual remedy in cases of toothache. The fresh 

 leaves are well chewed, and being very pungent, speedily act as a pawerful sialogogue, which 

 quickly and effectually removes the pain. I have not yet had au opportunity of ascertaining 

 whether the fresh leaves are thus pungent, but I find that the dried ones, sent for inspection, 

 have lost much of that property in drying, and with it I presume their virtues. Holarrhena 

 antidysenterica^ a very common and handsome flowering shrub on the^ Malabar coast, has been 

 long held in repute on that coast, on account of the astringent and tonic properties of its bark, 

 which is prescribed both to cure fevers and arrest bowel complaints ; the seed also, having been 

 first slightly toasted, are prescribed, in infusion, in slighter forms of bowel complaint. The 

 roots of Ichnocarpus friitescens, in common with those of Hemidesmus indica, are currently 

 employed in European hospitals under the name of country Sarsaparilla. The wood of Alstonia 

 scholariSy a common Indian tree, is as bitter as Gentian, and possessed of somewhat similar 

 properties; and the roots of Ophioooylon Serpentinum^ so called with reference to its reputed 

 antidotal powers in cases of snake bite, are certainly tonic, and are supposed to act on the 

 uterine system somewhat in the manner of Ergot of rye. While the tendency to the produc- 

 tion of poisonous and acrid secretions, is thus the predominating characteristic of the order, 

 we find some remarkable exceptions to the rule. The cow tree of Guiana, a species of 

 Tabernhnontfma yields, when wounded, a copious stream of thick, sweet, wholesome milk ; so 

 also the juice of some species of Cerhera lose the venomous qualities found in the fruit of 

 others of that genus. The juice of Urceola elastica^ furnishes a fine Caoutchouc, as does 

 that of several others, but of inferior quaUty. The leaves of Wrightia Hnetoria furnish an 

 Indigo of excellent quality in very considerable abundance. As regards the timber of the 

 arborious forms little seems to be known, probably owing to few of them attaining a large size. 



Remarks on Genera and Species. In an order embracing at least 100 genera, arrange- 

 ment and sub-dinsion into groups are quite indispensable, towards conveying clear conceptions 

 of their difFereuces as well as to facilitate their investigation. The seed and fruit of this order, 

 fortunately, to a great extent, aflford facilities for such grouping, which has been most successfully 

 taken advantage of by Alph. De Candolle, in his recent monograph. The former are either 

 naked or variously furnished with a tuft of pappus-like down. These differences of the seed form 

 the primary division, viz. Semina calva and Semlna comosa. The naked seeded ones are again 

 divided into those having a 1-celled ovary; those with 2 cells; and those with 2 separate 

 ovaries, but only one style. The second series, with 'coma,' is in part similarly grouped. It 

 is hrst divided into two; viz. 1st, ovary single, 2-celled, seed comose above: 2d, ovaries two, 

 distinct; which is again sub-divided into (1st,) seed comose below, or next the base of the folli- 

 cles : (2d ) comose at both ends, and (3d,) comose above— or remote from the base of the foUicle. 

 Of each of these groups an example will be found in the accompanying plate, 154-6. These dif- 

 ferences are represented by the author in the following tabular form, copied from the Annales 

 des Sciences Naturelles, for 1844, page 254. ^ 



a • . r Ovarium unicum unUoculare, . . . i Willuehbeieae. 



Semma calva. Ovarium unicum biloculare, ' . . . a! CarS 



Ovaria duo distmcta, . . . .3 piumeriese 



Ovarium unicum biloculare. Semina superne comosa, 4. Parsonsieae'. 

 Semina comosa. \ ^vana f bemina mfeme comosa, - - 5 Wrio^htieae. 



A\./r, * 1 %^^\^^ utrinque comosa, - . 6. Alstonies. 



distmcta, ^ Semina superne comosa, - - 7. Echitese. 



to peTftcTo?'Zt' h^rill T^ altogether unexceptionable, yet appear to me the nearest approach 

 S in threon^tn^^^^^^^ fi'' perhaps that can be made for the exceptions are few and 

 Sse of ; and an orTan not n. -^''i^'"'"? characters, every part of the flower and fruit is made 

 Svant;ge of '^tS L^L^^^^^ ^^^"«^^ ^^-'^^ to exist, has been largely taken 



noticed fy BroVnLC^^^^^ tis genera I mean the glands within Ihe calyx. These were 



De Cando^ThavU a Ze^xlpn? fl'u'?''' ^'J^ ''^'''^y ^^P^^^^^ i" hi« ^«"«"« characters. 

 to examine, S it 7e irable tTL ^ ^t *' T^- "^ ^^' ^"^ ^^"^ imperfectly described spec.es 



, oana it desirable to ascertam their value as generic characters, and has laid 



