: 



CYM01X" 



< YNICTIS. 



similar lorn, but smaller. The flower* we white or reddish ; the 

 fruit it contracted at UM side, surmounted by a calyx with long brisUe- 

 pointed division*, and ha* each of it* halves marked by nine unequal 

 elevated ridge*, all of which are slightly muricated, especially the 

 secondary ones, under each of which there U a vitta. Two vitta! arc 

 present on the commissure, and the albumen it not involute. 



Cumin U laid to be employed in flavouring Dutch cheese. The 

 fruiu are carminative, but the smell U disagreeable. They are chiefly 

 need in veterinary surgery. Combined with rain they make a warm 

 *hm1i>Mnt plaster. [Cum*, in AETS ASD Sc. Div.] 



YV riaoro 



< YMnrHAXR. [CHR 



;IOPODA.] 



i Y\ AN'i'HI'M (from iW, a dog, and tryx.*, to strangle), a genus 

 of PlanU belonging to the natural order Atclepia<lacr. It has a 

 S-parted somewhat rotate corolla; a coronet of appendages consoli- 

 dated, 5-SO-lobed, when 5-lobed with the segments opposite the 

 anthers ; the pollen-masses ventricose, pendulous ; the stigma usually 

 aniculate, sometimes blunt, very rarely with a beak inclosed below 

 the summit ; the follicle* smooth. The species are herbs or under- 

 shrub*, with opposite leaves and mostly twining stems. 



C. Vimfftoxifum has an erect stem, a beardless corolla, a simple 

 umbel with the pedicels three times longer then the peduncle ; the 

 corona 5-lobed. This plant is a native of sandy places in most part* 

 of Europe, with the exception of Great Britain. It possesses emetic 

 and purgative properties, and was once celebrated as an antidote for 

 poisons, from which it has derived its specific name. 



C. Momptliaemm, Montpellier Cynancnum, is an herbaceous twining 

 glabrous plant, with roundish cordate-stalked leaves, with a semi- 

 ianoeolate contracted point ; the segments of the corolla lanceolate, 

 bluntuh ; the coronet tubular. It is a native of the sea-coast of Italy, 

 of Spain, the south of France, and Greece. The juice of this plant is 

 a drastic cathartic, and when dried it is used as a medicine under 

 the name of Montpellier Scammony. 



C. oraii folium it a smooth twining plant, with oblong oval acuminate 

 leaves; many-flowered cymes; peduncles not longer than the petiole; 

 the coronet Id-cleft, about as long as the corolla ; the stigma pointed, 

 emarginiite. This plant is a native of Penang, where, according to 

 Dr. Wallich, it is used for the purpose of procuring from its sap 

 caoutchouc, which is of an excellent quality. 



C. Aryet has erect, pale, round stems ; the leaves scarcely stalked ; 

 about an inch long, ovate lanceolate, acute, smooth on each side, and 

 rather wrinkled, glaucous on the under side; the corymbs small, 

 axillary, with many smooth alternate branches ; the sepals lancolate ; 

 the corolla white, but little longer than the calyx. It is a native of 

 Upper Egypt The leaves and the whole plant act as a powerful 

 drastic purgative. Thin plant appears to be a native of the same 

 districts as those from which the Alexandrian Senna is obtained, and 

 all the samples of that senna contain these leaves. They do not 

 however appear to be added for the purposes of adulteration, but are 

 collected with the leaves of the senna through the ignorance of the 

 persons employed in their collection. The leaves of Tinnivelly Senna 

 are not found to contain those of the C. Argd mixed with them. 

 Much of the unpleasant griping effect of the Alexandrian Senna is 

 attributed by some writers on Materia Medica to the mixture of the 

 leaves of the Argel Senna leaves are also mixed with those of the 

 Gompkocarptu fruticotiu, which are in Syria also called Argel, or 

 ArgheL 



The C. 7peeocUM*a of Willdcnow, the Atclrpifu ail knot ica of 

 Roxburgh, is now referred to the genus Tylophora. [TYLoruoRA.J 



\\TlirS. [TROCH1UD*.] 



N'ARA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Componttr, in many reapecU like the thistle, but having an involucre 

 composed of thick fleshy spiny scales, and a remarkably thick fleshy 

 receptacle, covered over with numerous bristles. The two species 

 most known are UM Artichoke and the Cardoon. 



C. Snlymtu, the Artichoke, so long cultivated in our gardens as a 

 vegetable, came originally from the south of Europe, ami though it 

 has long bean cultivated in the regions of the north, it doe* not resist 

 UM very severe cold of winter. IU perennial root is thick, fleshy, 

 hard, branching, and give* rise to a cylindrical, glabrous, rather 

 branching stem, from 2 to 3 feet high, to which are attached very 

 large pionatifid leave*, of a pale green above, whitish beneath, deeply 

 serrated in lobes, and irregularly toothed. The heads stand singly at 

 UM top of the ramifications of the stem; they are as large as the 

 doubled fist; their receptacle is very thick, fleshy, concave, furnished 

 with simple bristles ; the leaflet* of the involucre are broad, thick, 

 and terminated in a spiny point. AIL the florets are hermaphrodite, 

 sti-l f a clear violet colour ; the tube of the corolla i very long ; its 

 limb has S very narrow segment*; the stamina! tube is very promi- 

 ent, of UM HIM colour a* the corolla. The pappus is sessile and 

 nrtbsry. The root of the Artichoke is rather bitter, the stem still 

 nor* so. It was formerly employed as a dinretir, l.ut it has long 

 been cultivated only a* a kitchen-garden plant. Everybody knows 

 that UM heads of the plant are gathered before the expansion of the 

 flown, and that the receptacles or the base of the involucral scales 

 are eaten either raw or after having been boiled in water. Tlie 

 Artichoke when cooked U an agreeable food, not very nourishing 



perhaps, but easy to digest The receptacles, or artichoke bottoms, 

 may be preserved for winter use by drying them after having blanched 

 them in boiling water. The Arabians consider the root of the Arti- 

 choke an aperient ; they call the gum of it Kunkirzud, and place it 

 among their emetics. 



C. carrfnncettiu, the Caribou. The country of the Cardoon in the 

 same as that of the artichoke ; it is found in the southern count ri>- 

 of Kuropo and in the north of Africa. Its thick and fleshy leav. 

 into spiny lobes with very prominent ribs, it* more slender stems 

 terminated by heads of flowers three or four times smaller, with a 

 thin receptacle, and the scales of the involucre armed with sharp 

 spines, easily distinguish it from the artichoke. Some authors how- 

 over have endeavoured to prove that the artichoke u only a variety 

 of the Cardoon. This opinion however does not appear well f.nm.l.-.l ; 

 for if it were so among the great quantity of Cardoons that arc 

 cultivated in gardens, some plants would be found transformed int<> 

 artichokes, which has never happened. In this species it is the vi', 

 or the middle nerve of the leaves, which is eaten. When cooked it is 

 tender, and its flavour greatly resembles that of the artichoke. It is 

 in general a choice dish, and seldom seen except at the tables of 

 persons in easy circumstances. 



CYNARA'CE^E, or CYNAROCEPHAL.*, one of the primary 

 subdivisions, in the system of Jumieu, of the natural order Componlrt. 

 It is included in the Tubulijlorte of De Candolle. It is characterised by 

 an erect seed, the absence of albumen, a hemispherical involucre, the 

 florets of the ray of the flower tubular, inflated, and regular. Of the 

 three subdivisions of C'ompotita; this is the smallest. Its type is the 

 genus Cynara, to which belongs the common Artichoke, C, Scolymut. 



The genera of British plants belonging to this subdivision are as 

 follows : 



Section I. Carlinett. 



Sammrea . . 1 species. 

 Carlinn . . 1 species. 



Section ll.Cenlavna: 



i '.u'mi.; i . .7 nasJn, 



Section III. Carduinetf. 



A ret i urn . . 2 species. 

 Onopordum . . 1 species. 

 Carduia . .12 species. 



Section IV.Silybca. 



Silybum . . 1 species. 



Section V. Snratuim. 



Serralula . . 1 species. 



The Cifnaraceoc differ from the Corymbifene in their active pro- 

 perties in possessing in a more intense degree the bitter principle of 

 the whole order. None of them seem to possess a tendency to 

 develop the narcotic principle which characterises the Cichoract ; 

 nor is the volatile oil which gives to so many of the Corymbifera a 

 peculiar aromatic smell developed in these plant*. The Carduiu 

 nulant (Musk Thistle) is the only one which possesses any remarkable 

 amount of odour. The prevalence of the bitter principle renders 

 many of them useful stomachic, tonic, and febrifuge medicines. For 

 these purposes Centaurea, Calcitrapa, Cnicut benedictut, Carduut 

 lanalut, Serratula ariviuu, and Silybum Marianttm have been used. 

 Some of them are said to be cathartic, and Echinvpt tp/urroccphalut, 

 which has this property, is used in Languedoc as a remedy for 

 rheumatism. The seeds of various species of Onopordum yield a 

 fixed oil, which in some parts is expressed and used for domestic 

 purposes. Many of the CytHiractir yield colouring-matters. The 

 I'arlhnnnu lincturiiu yields a yellow colour, and is employed to 

 adulterate saffron ; Srrratula tinttoria yields a yellow dye of a fino 

 colour. A pigment of a blue colour is obtained from the flowers of 

 Crtitattrea cyanut. Some of them secrete small quantities of tannin, 

 and are used in consequence as astringents in medicine, as the Onopor- 

 dvn aca*lki*m. Galls also are found on the Cnicut arventit, which 

 possess astringent properties, owing to the tannin they contain. A 

 number of species yield food. The bracts of the involucre are in 

 some very large ; and, as they contain starchy and other alimentary 

 secretions, are used as diet by man. The Artichoke in a familiar 

 instance. The heads of the Onopordum nrrtnlhium are often eaten in 

 the same way. The tender sprout* of the A ret turn Isippa arc 

 gathered and eaten in the north of Europe. They are cooked in tho 

 same manner as asparagus. The tubers of 



frequently cooked and eaten, and many other species yield starch in 

 their roots. Animals do not generally like the plant* belonging to 

 the Comporittt. They HCCUI howev. M.-illy to eat them medi- 



cinally, and the ass prefers the thistle to most other kin. In of :.,...!. 



(Ituniott, (hulinet of Botany ; Lindley, /'//, Babington, 



Manual of Rrilith Botany.) 



CYNA'RRHODON, a name given sometimes to the hep nf the 

 rose, which is a fruit composed of a succulent calyx-tube inclosing a 

 number of hard dry hairy nnts. 



i Y NIC'I'IS, n gemu of Animals lielonging to thn onlrr Carnirora, 

 established liy Mr. Ogilby for an animal connecting the Family of the 

 Civet* with that of the Dogs. 



It has the following generic characters : 



Dental formula : Incisors, 1; canines, _^- ; molars, t^?=38. 

 6 1 1 55 



