490 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



m;irkable for their a<?tringency. Thus, the bark of B. crassifolia is astringent, 

 and is used internally as an antidote to the bite of the rattlesnake, and for 

 other purposes where astringent medicines are desirable. The bark of other 

 species is employed for tannmg in Brazil. American Alcornoque bark, which 

 is now imported into this country for the use of the tanner, is said to be the 

 produce o\ B. laurifolia, rhopalcefolia, and cocculobcefuNa. 



Nitraria — This genus is by some put into an order by itself called Nitra- 

 riaceae. According to Munby, N. tridentata is the true Lotus-tree of the 

 ancients. This is a native of the desert of SousSa, near Tunis, and its fruit is 

 of a somewhat intoxicating nature. 



Bunchoiia armeniaca, a native of Peru, is said to have poisonous seeds. 



Natural Order 47. Erythroxylace^. — The Erythroxyloii 

 Order. — Diagnosis. — This order is closely allied to Malpighia- 

 ceae, and, in fact, it scarcely presents characters sufficient 

 to warrant its separation from that order. Its distinctive 

 characters, according to Lindley, are as follows; — the flowers 

 arise from amongst numerous small imbricated scale-like 

 bracts ; the calyx has no glands ; the petals have at their 

 base two parallel membranous plates; the stigmas arc capitate; 

 the ovules are sessile and truly anatropal; and the eml)ryo is 

 straight. In all other respects, the Erythroxylacese resemble the 

 Malpighiacea3. 



Distribution, ^'c. — The plants of this order abound in Brazil; 

 many also occur in some other parts of South America, and the 

 West Indies; and a few are scattered throughout many of the 

 warmer regions of the globe. There is but one genus, Ery- 

 throxylon, belonging to tiie order, which includes 75 species. 



Properties and Uses. — Some of the Erythroxylacere are tonic, 

 others purgative, and others stimulant and sedative. The wood 

 of E. hyper icifoUum, and the bark of E. suberosuin are red, and 

 are used in the preparation of dyes of that colour. The wood 

 of others has a similar reddish appearance, and from this 

 common colour of the wood the name of the genus is derived. 

 The only important plant of the order is 



Ertjthrnxylon Coca. — The leaves of this plant are much used by the na- 

 tives of Peru, and .some other parts of South America as a masticatory ; for 

 which purpose they are always taken with a very small quantity of an alkaline 

 paste prepared from the ashes of different plants ; or in some cases, lime is 

 substituted. The Peruvian Indians have always ascribed to the coca, the 

 most extraordinary virtues. Thus, they believe that it lessens the desire and 

 the necessity for ordinary food, and in fact, that it may be considered as almost 

 a substitute for food. Spruce says, that an Indian with a chew of Ipadu (the 

 native name for coca of the Indians of tiie Rio Negro) in his cheek, will go two or 

 three days without food, and without feeling any desire to sleep. Dr. Weddell, 

 however, speaks far less highly of the virtues of coca. He states that it does 

 not satisfy the appetite, but it merely enal)les those who chew it to support 

 abstinence for a length of time without a feeling of hunger or weakness. The 

 use of coca is also said to prevent the difficulty of respiration which is generally 

 experienced in ascending long and stee]) mountanis. Us excessive use is also 

 stated to be very injurious, producing analogous etfects to those occa>ioned by 

 the immodei ate consumption of opium and fermented licpiors. It has been 

 computed by Johnston, that the annual consumption of coca is 30.00(),(;00lbs., 

 and that its chewing is indulged in by about l(>,0(K),(t()() of the human race. The 

 nature of the constituents, which thus give ri«e to the peculiar stimulating, 

 hunger-allaying, and narcotic effects of coca, have not been satisfactorily deter- 

 rained. 



