470 



EXOGENOUS OR DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



and exposure to heat. The starch thus obtained is the Cassava, 

 which, when granulated, forms the Tapioca of commerce. The 

 farinaceous albumen of the seed is also innocent, and the fixed 

 oil which it frequently contains is perfectly bland. But the oil 

 procured by expression abounds in the juices of the embryo and 

 integuments of the seed, and possesses more or less active proper- 

 ties. The seeds of Ricinus communis yield the Castor Oil : and 

 those of Croton Tiglium, and some other Indian species, yield the 

 violently drastic Croton oil or Oil of Tiglium. Some plants of 

 the family are most virulent poisons ; as, for example, the Manchi- 

 neal-tree of the West Indies (Hippomane Manicella), which is said 

 even to destroy persons who sleep under its shade ; and a drop of 

 the juice falling upon the hand produces an instantaneous blister. 

 The hairs of some species (such as Jatropha stimulosa) sting like 

 Nettles. The hard and close-grained wood of the Box is mval- 

 uable to the wood-engraver. The purple dye called Turnsole 

 is derived from Crozophora tinctoria. Another most important 

 product of this order is caoutchouc, which is yielded by various 

 plants of different families ; but the principal supply of the article 

 (that of Para, Demarara, and Surinam) is furnished by the tree 

 named Hevea Guianensis by Aublet, the Siphonia elastica of Per- 

 soon. 



876. Ord, EmpetraceJB (the Crowberry Family). Low, shrubby 



FIG. 1035. Branch cf Ceratiola ericoides in fruit. 1036. Magnified staminate flower, with 

 its bracts. 1037. The two stamens, with an inner bract or sepal. 1038. Magnified pistillate 

 flower, with its imbricated bracts. 1039. The pistil separate ; one of the ceils laid open by a 

 vertical section, showing the erect ovule. 1040. Drupe, with the persistent scales at the base. 



1041. Transverse section of its endocarp, or two nucules, with the inclosed seed and embryo. 



1042. Vertical section of the seed. 



