SUMAC FAMILY 401 



the starch grains are agglutinated into the familiar form of " pearl 

 tapioca." Any other starch, if moistened and subjected to the same 

 process of heating, will result in the production of forms similar 

 to those of the genuine article. Tapioca is chiefly used in the making 

 of puddings. 



Cluytia Similis. The entire plant of Cluytia similis (Fam. 

 Euphorbiacese), indigenous to South Africa, is reputed to be of 

 value as an antidote for anthrax and for the disinfection of anthrax- 

 infected meat, while the root is stated to be eaten by some of the 

 natives as an antidote for snake-bite poisoning. A chemical exam- 

 ination of the entire over-ground portion showed it to contain a 

 small amount of a volatile oil ; a quantity of sugar; potassium chlor- 

 ide; and a number of definite substances including several new com- 

 pounds, viz., chrysophanol ; fumaric acid; cluytinic acid; cluytyl 

 alcohol, cluytyl cluytinate; cluytinasterol ; triacontane; a mixture 

 of fatty acids; a substance designated cluytianol, which is probably 

 a phytosterol glucoside; and a compound which is probably tri- 

 hydroxy-dihydro-anthraquinone. Power, Jour. Chem. Soc., 1912, 

 p. 2221. 



ANACARDIACE^:, OR SUMAC FAMILY 



A family consisting of about 400 trees or shrubs, sometimes climb- 

 ing, and very abundant in the tropics and sub-tropics, a few being 

 found in the temperate zones. The typical genus, Rhus, of which 

 there are a number of species found in the United States, is character- 

 ized by compound leaves, small greenish-white or yellow flowers, 

 occurring in terminal panicles, and drupaceous, often crimson-col- 

 ored, fruits (Fig. 175). All of the plants of this family possess resin- 

 canals, which are situated in the phloem portion of the vascular 

 bundle of the axis and leaves. In some few cases these are also found 

 in the cells comprising the medullary rays, pith and cortex. In addi- 

 tion, tanninsacs occur more or less abundantly, and occasionally lysig- 

 enous mucilage cavities are present. More or less crescent-shaped 

 groups of bast fibers occur in the pericycle, enclosing on the concave 

 side a large resin canal ; occasionally the pericycle is a composite and 

 continuous ring of sclerenchyma. The tracheae are usually marked 

 with simple pores, occasionally having scalariform perforations. The 

 wood fibers have simple pores and usually septate transverse walls. 

 Calcium oxalate is secreted, in some of the cells of the cortical paren- 

 chyma, in the form of rosette aggregates or solitary crystals, the latter 

 sometimes being arranged in longitudinal rows, associated with the 



