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tubular part is lined with a number of fine hairs point 

 ing downwards, which allow the insect to enter easily 

 but completely prevent its return. In these circum 

 stances it moves about in the little chamber, am 

 becomes covered with the pollen, which it thus 

 scatters over the stigma ; the flower afterwards 

 withers, and the insect escapes. The plant, however 

 rarely bears seed in this country. An American 

 species, the Aristolochia sipho, which flowers abund- 

 antly, probably from want of an insect of this kind 

 never bears seed. 



The leaves of theAtarum Europceum, or Asarabacca 

 are officinal in the British pharmacopoeias. This 

 plant is indigenous in the north of England, but is 

 not found in Scotland. The roots are brought from 

 the Levant, and are also used medicinally. They are 

 bitter and acrid, have a disagreeable nauseous odour, 

 and possess powerful emetic and purgative propertie 

 in the recent state. The powdered leaves are used 

 as an herb snuff to promote sneezing, in cases of drow- 

 siness, headach, sore eyes, and palsy. The root of 

 the Asarum Canadcnsc has an aromatic flavour, more 

 agreeable than that of the Virginian snake-root, and is 

 used in America as a warm stimulant to promote per- 

 spiration. By the country people it is used instead of 

 ginger, and hence has received the name of wild ginger. 



a/ 



ASARUM EUROP/EVM. a, Flower; b, section of the same ; c, seed. 



In consequence of the genus Asarum being included 

 in this order, it has sometimes received the name of 

 AsarlncfB. 



AR1STOTELIA (Linnaeus). A South American 

 evergreen shrub, named in honour of the Greek 

 philosopher Aristotle, belonging to the Linnaean 

 class and order Dodecandna Monogynia, natural 

 order Homallncec. Generic character : calyx five- 

 cleft; corolla five-egged petals, equal to the calyx, 

 inserted on the receptacle ; stamens below the seed- 

 vessel ; filaments short ; anthers linear ; style like a 

 thread, protruding ; stigma, tripid, reflexed ; berry 

 round, three-celled. This shrub is tolerably hardy, 

 growing freely in sheltered situations, and the berries 

 are eatable, of a purple or black colour, and slightly 

 acid. In Chile the inhabitants make a wine from it 

 which is administered in fevers, and which is supposed 

 to cure the plague. It is propagated by layers and 

 cuttings. 



AROIDE^E. The Arum tribe. A natural fa- 

 mily of monocotyledonous plants, the two hundred 

 and fourth order of the system of Jussieu (London}, 

 containing about twenty genera, and upwards of a 

 hundred and twenty species. The plants included 

 in this order are generally herbaceous and stemless, 

 and are frequently furnished with broad fleshy 

 leaves, somewhat resembling those of dicotyledo- 

 nous plants. They grow in shady moist places, 

 are found abundantly in tropical climates, though 

 rarely in those which are temperate. In the tropics 

 the aroideae occasionally become arborescent, and 

 sometimes throw out aerial roots by which they 

 become attached to other trees. Some of the plants 

 of this order, as, for instance, several species of the 



genus Pathos, are truly parasitic. In America some 

 of the aroideye are found at an elevation of upwards 

 of 8000 feet above the level of the sea. 



The essential characters of the family are : 

 flowers sometimes hermaphrodite, sometimes uni- 

 sexual, numerous, sessile, growing on a spadix which 

 is sometimes enclosed in a coloured spatha or sheath ; 

 the perianth is often wanting ; when present, it con- 

 sists of four or six segments. In the male flowers, 

 the stamens vary in number, and are very short ; the 

 anthers are subsessile, ovate and turned outward. In 

 the females, the ovary is superior, and many-seeded; 

 stigma sessile. The fruit is simple, and either succu- 

 lent or capsular. Seeds vary in number. The order 

 has been divided into three sections ; the true Aroi- 

 dece, the Dracuntiacecc, and the Arontiacece. 



ARUM MACULATUM. a, The spadix, with the male and female 

 organs, and nectaries in their relative situations; b, ovary; c, 

 the same in section ; d, anther; c, fruit ripe : /, the same in sec- 

 tion; g, seed; ft, the same in section; f, embryo. 



In the aroideae, as in most monocotyledonous 

 orders, the roots are the chief objects of interest, 

 whether we regard them in a medical or economical 

 point of view. In the fresh state they are acrid and 

 stimulating, sometimes possessing purgative and even 

 poisonous qualities. When dried, subjected to heat, 

 or macerated, they lose their acrimony and become 

 mild and nutritive. A good illustration of this may 

 be found in the case of the Arum mrtciitftluni, the 

 cuckoo-pint or wake-robin, a plant which is pretty 

 common in England, although rare in Scotland and 

 Ireland, and which is well known by its spotted 

 arrow-shaped leaves, and its fine red berries, which 

 remain during the winter. The root of this plant, 

 when fresh, is very acrid and pungent, causing 

 welling of the tongue, salivation, and a burning sen- 

 sation in the mouth and throat ; but when boiled or 

 macerated it is wholly deprived of its acrimony and 

 may be used as an article of food. It is so employed 

 jy the inhabitants of Weymouth, and the island of 

 Portland, and is made by them to yield an amylaceous 

 substance, which is sold in London under the name 

 of Portland sago, and is an excellent substitute for 

 jread-flour. In Sclavonia, after being washed, boiled, 

 and dried, it is preserved as food during the winter. 



The plant is retained in the pharmacopoeias. 

 The fresh root, when mixed with gum arabic or 

 spermaceti, so as to prevent it exerting its pungency 

 on the mouth, may be administered as a very power- 

 ul purgative, in doses of ten or twenty grains. The 

 iried root is quite inert, and the French prepare 

 rom it a harmless cosmetic called cypress powder. 



The roots of the A mm colocasin and esculentum, 

 he Indian kale of the West Indies, the tairo of the 

 South Sea Islanders, when roasted or boiled, are 

 U2 



