688 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



tains a solitary pendulous ovule. Frwit indehiscent. Seed 

 solitary, 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 of the 

 Genera : — Cannabis, Hamulus, 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, but the 

 best hemp is produced in Italy. Inferior hemp is obtained from the United 

 States and India. Hemp is chiefly used for cordage, sacking, and sail-cloths. 

 This fibre has been known for more than 2,500 years. The fruits, commonly 

 termed ht'jnp seed, are oleaginous and demulcent. They are used for feeding 

 birds. When submitted to pressure, they yield about -15 per cent, of a fixed 

 oil, which is employed as a varnish, and for other pui-poses. When the 

 Hemp plant is grown in tropical countries, it varies in some important 

 characters from the ordinary C. saliva of colder climates, and is even by some 

 botanists considered as a distinct variety, which is named C. saliva var. 

 indica, Indian Hemp. This plant produces less valuable fibres than the 

 former, but it acquires marked narcotic properties, from secreting a much 

 larger quantity of a peculiar resin than is the case with that of colder lati- 

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

 parts of the world, for the pun^oses of intoxication, and in medicine. The 

 principal forms in which Indian Hemp is found are, — Gunjah, the dried 

 flowering tops of the female plant, containing the resin ; Bang, Subjee or 

 Sidhee, the larger leaves and fruits without the stalks ; and Churi-us, the 

 concrete resinous exudation from the flowers, stems, and leaves. The 

 above forms are in common use in India ; and another called Hashish or 

 Hashash is employed in Arabia. Other preparations of Hemp are, majoon, 

 in use at Calcutta, mapouchari at Cairo, and the dawames of the Arabs. 

 Indian Hemp is also used for smoking. The plant is also known under the 

 name of Diamba in Western Africa, where it is also employed for intoxicating 

 purposes under the names of maconie and makiah. In the foi-m of an extract 

 or tincture, Indian Hemp has been employed medicinally in this country and 

 elsewhere. Pereira calls it an exhilarant, inebriant, phantasmatic, hypnotic 

 or soporific, and stupefacient or narcotic. As obtained in this country, 

 however, it varies so much in activity, that its effects cannot be depended 

 upon with certainty, and it is consequently not much employed. It has, how- 

 ever, been introduced into the British Pharmacopoeia. The resin is called 

 cannabin, and is the active principle of the plant. 



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

 under the name of strobiles, or commonly hops. These fruits consist of scales 

 (bracts), and achpenia, the latter of which are surrounded by yellowish aroma- 

 tic glands (fg. 142). These glands, which are commonly termed lupulinic 

 glands, are the most active parts of hops. They contain a volatile oil, and 

 a bitter principle called hipuline or liipulite, to the presence of which hops 

 owe their properties. The bracts also contain some lupuline, and are 

 therefore not devoid altogether of active 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 with 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 pro- 

 perties. They also prevent beer from rapidly becoming sour. 



Natural Order 212. Morace^. — The Mulberry Order (fgs. 

 1008 and 1009). — Character. — Trees or shrubs with a milky 



