724 SMILACEA. 
from the pastures in which it is found. The Hermodtctyls of the Greek 
physicians and Arabians, and which were largely employed by them in 
diseases of the joints, have been shown by Planchon to have been the corms 
of C. variegatum, the source also of the Hermodactyls of the present day. 
Some other Hermodactyls had a different origin. 
Veratrum.—The rhizomes and rootlets of V. album are commonly known 
as White Hellebore roots. They contain several bases, the more important 
being the alkaloid veratrine, and another peculiar alkaloid termed jervine. 
White Hellebore is a narcotico-acrid poison. It has been employed as an 
errhine, and for destroying vermin ; and internally as a purgative and ano- 
dyne in gout, &e. The dried rhizome and rootlets of V. viride, Green Helle- 
bore, are now much employed in the United States, and to some extent 
e'sewhere, under the name of American Hellebore or Green Hellebore, as 
an arterial sedative in inflammatory affections. John Harley describes its 
action as occupying a position intermediate between colchicum and digitalis. 
Green Hellebore rhizome and rootlets are official in the British, Indian, and 
United States Pharmacopeceias. 
Order 3. SmItacE%, the Sarsaparilla Order-—C harac- 
ter.—Herbs or shrubs, more or less climbing (jig. 1096). Leaves 
petiolate (jig. 1096), net-veined, articulated. flowers regular, 
unisexual and dicecious, or hermaphrodite. Perianth inferior, 
6-partite, with all its divisions alike. Stamens 6, perigynous or 
rarely hypogynous ; anthers introrse. Ovary superior, 3- 5- or 
Fie. 1096. 
Fig. 1096. Portion of a branch, with leaves and fruit, of Smilax 
papyracea. 
rarely 1-celled, with orthotropous ovules; stigmas 3. Fruit 
baccate (jig. 1096), few or many-seeded. Seeds with a minute 
embryo, in hardalbumen. This order, as we have already noticed, 
is included in Liliacex by Bentham and Hooker. 
Distribution and Numbers.—The species of this order are 
scattered over various parts of the world, both in tropical and 
temperate climates; they are, however, most abundant in 
tropical America. Illustrative Genera :—Smilax, Linn.; Ripo- 
gonum, Forst. These are the only genera; there are probably 
