MOMADRIA. 



Hispid, scabrous, glaucous. Stem prostrate, without tendrils. Leaves 

 cordate, somewhat lobed, crenate-toothed, very rugose, on long stalks. 

 Fruit oblong, obtuse at each end, hispid, disarticulating from its stalk 

 with violence and expelling its seeds and mucus with considerable 

 force in consequence of the sudden contraction of the sides. Elate- 

 rium, a substance obtained from the juice surrounding the seeds of this 

 plant is so powerful a poison that a single grain has been known to act 

 violently on man ; but its strength and effects are uncertain. It is 

 used in practice in the form of an extract, as a violent cathartic and 

 hydragogue. Dr. Christison quotes a case of a medical man in Paris, 

 who, after carrying a specimen to his lodgings in his hat was seized in 

 half an hour with acute pain &c. in his head succeeded by colic pains, 

 fixed pains in the stomach, frequent watery purging, bilious vomiting, 

 and some fever. 



180. M. Balsamina Linn. sp. 14*53 is supposed to be the plant 

 called Neurosperma cuspidata by Rafinesque, the fruit of which 

 is said to be a dangerous poison, but in moderate doses to act as 

 a powerful hydragogue. 



181. M. operculata Linn. sp. 1433. DC. prodr. iii. 311. 

 Comm. rar. 22. t. 22, South America ; common on the coast 

 of Essequibo. 



Leaves 5-lobed, toothed. Fruit elliptical, angular, tuberculated, with 

 a deciduous rostrum-like lid, green, dry internally, and divided into 3 

 cells by a plexus of entangled fibres. Seeds compressed, black. 

 One of the bitterest of all known substances. Hancock in Med. hot. 

 trans. 1829. p. 12. 



MELOTHRIA. 



Flowers monoecious. $ . Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla campa- 

 nulate ; petals ciliated or toothed, not fringed. Filaments 5, 

 triadelphous. $ . Style 1. Stigmas 3, fringed. Fruit 3-celled, 

 many-seeded. 



182. M. pendula Linn. sp. pi. 49. Lam. illustr. t. 28. f. 3. 

 DC. prodr. iii. 313. South America. 



Leaves cordate, 5-lobed, toothed. Tendrils simple. Female flowers 

 solitary, on long stalks. Corolla somewhat hairy, toothletted. Fruits 

 small, ovate, roundish, pendulous. Extremely drastic. Four ripe fruits 

 will purge a horse. N. and E. 



TRICHOSANTHES. 



Flowers monoecious, white. $ f Calyx somewhat clavate, 

 5-parted : lobes setaceous, appendiculate, with 5 exterior teeth 

 alternating with the lobes. Corolla 5-parted, ciliated. Stamens 

 3 ; anthers combined, their cells very wavy. $ . Calyx 

 5-toothed. Corolla 5-parted, with a lacerated fringed margin. 

 Style 3-fid ; stigmas oblong, subulate. Fruit oblong, 3-9-celled. 



183. T. palmata Roxb.fi. ind. iii. 704. ^Forests of India. 



87 G 4 



