124 NAT. ORDER TRICOCiE. 



The genus croton contains upwards of one hundred and fifty 

 species, of which the Tiglium is the only one possessing purgative 

 qualities. In Euro])e, the seeds have been long known under the 

 names of Gratia Molucca and Grana Tiglii ; the former of which 

 names, was derived from the Molucca Islands, whence the seeds 

 were formerly exported into Europe. It appears that the natives 

 of the Eastern nations have for centuries past been well acquainted 

 with the purgative effect of the seeds ; and in Europe they were ior- 

 nierly precribed as a drastic purge, but fell into disuse on account 

 of the very violent and alarming symptoms which so often occurred 

 by their use. Both in this country and Europe, the fixed oil express- 

 ed from the seed, has been brought into general use, through the 

 exertions of Drs. Conwell, Nimmo, Frost, and others. 



Oil of Croton is of a deep orange color, with a peculiar odor, 

 sui genet-is, and an extremely acrid and pungent taste. Dr. Nimmo, 

 of Glasgow, found 100 parts of this oil to consist of ]5 per cent, 

 of an active purgative principle, soluble in volatile and fixed oils, 

 alcohol, and sulphuric ether; and 55 per cent of a bland oil, resem- 

 bling oil of olives, insoluble in alcohol. It appears that the croton 

 oil which is imported into this country, is usually very much adul- 

 terated, either with the oil of olives or castor, and differing in 

 strength ten-fold : the consequences of prescribing a medicine of 

 such unequal powers must be obvious. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Every part of the Croton Tig- 

 lium tree possesses medical properties. Among the Eastern nations 

 it is most highly valued for its purgative, diaphoretic, and diuretic 

 properties : the roots, as well as the seeds, are powerfully cathartic, 

 and very much used in some parts of Europe as a specific for 

 dropsy; the wood of the trunk and branches, in small doses, acts 

 upon the skin and kidneys ; and the leaves, in powder, are used by 

 the Japanese, as a topical remedy for the bites of serpents. In this 

 country, the expressed oil is the only part medicinally employed, 

 and when genuine, one drop proves a powerful cathartic. 



