250 ETJPHOBBIACEJE. 



we cannot wonder at the good woman's mistake. Children 

 and moorfowl eat the fruit, but it is not very wholesome. 



The SPUBGE order comes next, terrible in its power for evil, 

 though in some respects it is serviceable. It is a perplexing 

 tribe, for in some members the petals seem perfect, whilst 

 others have neither calyx nor corolla. The stamens and pistils 

 grow on separate flowers. The members of this tribe vary 

 from mere weeds to trees of the largest size. They have all an 

 acrid juice, which in some is virulent enough to be a most 

 dangerous poison ; while in others the evil quality is dissipated 

 by heat, and the farinaceous substance remaining becomes 

 wholesome food for man : the Cassava is an example of this. 



The Manchineel tree, whose very shade is dangerous, belongs 

 to this tribe, and other members produce croton and castor oil, 

 cascarilla bark and indiarubber; and the "vegetable tallow," 

 of which candles are made in China, is also formed from a 

 member of this order. 



The British members of the Spurge family are green leafy 

 plants, but many foreign species are leafless, with enlarged 

 stems like the Cactus. 



The Petty Spurge (Euphorbia peplus), even, the mere garden 

 weed which children call " Fat-hen," can raise a blister with 

 its milky juice. 



The Caper Spurge (E. lathyrus), which we often see in 

 gardens, where it is cultivated for its caper-like seeds, abounds 

 in poisonous juice. The stem is tinted with crimson, and its 

 leaves are glaucous. It is very dangerous to use the seeds 

 instead of capers. Fee states, that with as much oil drawn 

 from this plant as may be bought for a franc ninety persons 

 might be poisoned. 



The poor fishermen of Kerry stupefy the fish in the rivers 

 by throwing a basketful of the Irish Spurge (E. hiberna), into 

 the water. This plant has six forked branches, and its flowers 

 are purple. We have no specimen of it. 



The Sun Spurge (E. helioscopia), is often called Wartwort, 



