MONOCHLAMTDEiE. 637 



which the fibres are obtained that are used in the manufacture of the cele- 

 brated Chinese grass-cloth. 



Parietaria officinalis. Wall Pellitory, is by many regarded as a valuable 

 diuretic and liihontriptic. 



Natural Order 211. Ca>'nabinace^. — The Hemp Order. 

 — Bough herbs -with a watery juice. Leaves alternate, lobed, 

 stipulate. Flowers small, unisexual, dioecious. Males in 

 racemes or panicles. Calyx scaly, imbricated. Stamens 5, 

 opposite the sepals ; filaments, filiform. Females in spikes, or 

 strobiles {fig. 398), each flower with 1 sepal surrounding the 

 ovary, which is superior, and 1-celled, and contains a solitary 

 pendulous ovule. Fruit indehiscent. Seed soHtary, pendulous, 

 without albumen ; embryo hooked or spirally coiled, with a 

 superior radicle. 



Distribution, ^c. — Natives of the temperate parts of the 

 northern hemisphere in Europe and Asia. Examples : — Can- 

 nabis, Humulus. These are the only genera, and each contains 

 but one species. 



Properties and Uses. — The plants of this order yield valuable 

 fibres, and possess narcotic, stomachic, and tonic properties. 



Cannabis saliva, the Common Hemp. — The valuable fibre called Hemp is 

 obtained from this plant. It is principally derived from Russia. It is chiefly 

 used for cordage, sacking, and sail-cloths. This fibre has been known for 

 more than 2500 years. The fruits, commonly termed hetnp seed, are oleaginous 

 and demulcent. They are used for feeding birds. When submitted to pres- 

 sure, they yield about 25 per cent, of a fixed oil, which is used as a varnish, 

 and for other purposes. When the Hemp plant is grown in tropical countries, 

 it varies in some important characters from the ordinary C. sativa of colder 

 climates, and is by some botanists considered as a distinct variety, which is 

 named C. sativa var.indica, Indian Hemp. The plants of this variety produce 

 less valuable fibres, but acquire marked narcotic properties, from secreting a 

 much larger quantity of a peculiar resin than is the case with those of colder 

 latitudes. The herb and resin are largely employed in Asia, and some other 

 parts of the world, for the purposes of intoxication . Various preparations are Iq 

 use for the purpose, as Gunjah, Bang, Subjee or Sidhee m India, and Hashish 

 or Hashash, in Arabia: thesearepreparationsof the herb or leaves ; whilean- 

 other called Churrus is a concrete resinous exudation from the plant. Other 

 preparations of Hemp are, majoon, in use at Calcutta, mapouchari at Cairo, 

 and the dawatnes of the Arabs. Indian hemp is also used for smoking. The 

 plant is also known under the name of Diainba in Western Africa, where it 

 is also employed for intoxicating purposes under the names of maconie and 

 makiah. In the form of an extract or tincture, Indian Hemp has been em- 

 ployed medicinally in this country and elsewhere. Pereira calls it an ex- 

 hilarant, inebriant, phantasmatic, hypnotic or soporific, and stupefacient or 

 narcotic. As obtained in this country, however, it varies so much inactivity, 

 that its effects cannot be depended upon with certainty, and it is consequently 

 not much in use. The resin is called cannabin, and is the active principle of 

 hemp. 



Humulus Lupulus, the Hop — The aggregate fruits of this plant are known 

 under the name of strobiles {fig. 398), or commonly hups. These fruits consist 

 of scales, and achasnia, the latter of which are surrounded by yellowish aroma- 

 tic glands {fig- 125). These lupulinic glands are the most active parts of hops. 

 They contain a volatile oil, and a bitter principle called lupuline or lupulite, to 

 the presence of which hops owe their properties. Hops are used medicinally for 

 their stomachic and tonic properties. They are also to some extent narcotic, 

 especially the odorous vapours from them, hence a pillow stuffed w ith hops is 

 occasionally employed to induce sleep. The chief use of hops, however, is in 

 the manufacture of ale and beer, to which they impart a pleasant aromatic 

 bitter flavour, and tonic, and soporific properties. They also prevent beer 

 from rapidly becoming sour. 



