COIL EUPHORBIACE^]. 697 



furnished with spines, resembling that of a Cactus; these species (E. antiyuorum, canariensis, officinarum, 

 abyssinica) yield by incision a resinous juice which is strongly drastic, and used externally as a vesicant. 

 [The true Euphorbium is the E. resinifera of Morocco.] The other Euphorbias, which have a normal 

 stem and leaves, have a purgative milky juice ; such are E. Esula, Cfftparutiat, amygdaloides, Helioscopia, 

 Peplux, palustris, Lathyris, &c., all indigenous to France. Some are considered efficacious in syphilitic 

 cachexia, as E. parviflora and hirta, of India, and linearis, of America. English doctors, before the intro- 

 ductioa of mercury, prescribed E. hiberna in similar cases ; and in Spain E. 'canescens is still administered 

 with the same object. Others are emetic, and in North America E. corollata and Ipecacuanha are thus 

 used. E. thymifolia, slightly astringent and aromatic, is given in India as a vermifuge to infants. E. 

 hypericifolia, of tropical America, the juice of which is both astringent and slightly narcotic, furnishes a 

 useful medicine in dysentery. The milky juice of E. balsamifera, which grows in the Canaries, is so 

 little acrid, that the natives cook it, and convert it, they say, into a nourishing jelly ; that of E. cotinifolia, 

 on the contrary, is so poisonous, that the Caribbeans poison their arrows with it. Finally, a Etiphorbia from 

 the forests of Brazil (E. phosphorea) is described by Von Martius, from the stem of which distils a phos- 

 phorescent juice. 



It is especially in the arborescent Euphorbiacea that the juice is abundant and caustic. The Blinding- 

 tree (Excacaria Agallocha) of the Moluccas contains so acrid a juice that, if a drop falls into the eye, it is 

 nearly blinded : this has happened to sailors sent on shore to cut wood. The smoke even of this wood, 

 when burned, is dangerous. The Manchineel (Ilippomanes Mancinella) is a fine tree of tropical America, 

 which, according to some travellers, possesses such poisonous properties, that rain falling on the skin, after 

 flowing over its leaves, produces a blister, and that to sleep beneath its shade is death. But J. Jacquin, 

 who resided long in the Antilles, treats this tradition as a fable ; he stood under a Manchineel tree naked 

 for some hours, whilst the rain fell through it upon him, and yet he remained unhurt. It is, however, true 

 that a drop of its milk will raise a blister full of serous matter on the skin. The fleshy fruit, of the shape, 

 colour, and smell of an apple, is a very active poison, but so caustic that it would be impossible to eat it. 



Another species of tropical America {Hura crepitans) contains an extremely deleterious principle, 

 thus described by Boussingault in his ' Cours d' Agriculture ' : ' When M. Ilivero and I analyzed 

 some milk of the Hura, sent to us from Guaduas by Dr. Koulin, we were attacked with erysipelas. The 

 courier who brought it was seriously injured, and the inhabitants of the houses where he had lodged on 

 the road experienced the same effects.' This milk perfectly resembled that of the Cow-tree (see Arto- 

 carpece). The fruit of Hura crepitans [called Sandbox] is a woody capsule, composed of 12-18 cocci, 

 which, in drying, break open suddenly down the back into two valves, at the same time separating elas- 

 tically from the axis, with a noise like a pistol-shot. This capsule, boiled in oil to prevent dehiscence, and 

 then emptied, is used as a sand-box in the colonies. 



Siphonia elastica is a tree of Guiana and Brazil, 30 to 60 feet in height, whose milky juice is 

 obtained by incisions in the trunk as a tenacious and very elastic mass, known as India-rubber ; this is a 

 hydrocarbon, softening in boiling water, insoluble in alcohol, but soluble in ether, sulphuret of carbon 

 and volatile oils. Thanks to this solubility, India-rubber has become a great article of commerce, in the 

 fabrication of elastic tissues, clothing, waterproof shoes, and various utensils. This milky juice is found 

 in other families ; several Figs of Asia and America, and especially Ficus elastica, of India, possess it ; 

 also Castilloa elastica, of Sumatra ; Vahea gummifera, of Madagascar ; and Hatwornia speciosa, of Brazil ; 

 hut none of these yield so copious a supply as the Siphonia. 



Amongst the many Euphorbiacece prescribed for syphilis amongst foreign nations, we may mention 

 Stillmgia sylvatica, of Carolina and Florida; Jatropha offivinalis, Croton perdiceps and campestris, of Brazil. 

 Trayia and Acalypha, American and Asiatic plants, are praised as resolvents, diaphoretics, and diuretics. 

 Mercuriulis, of which two species (M. annua and. perennis) are natives of France, is a moderate purge. 



Omphalea triandra, a tree of Guiana, yields a juice, white at first, which blackens in the air, and 

 used as ink. Some Crotons of America and Africa yield, by incision, a balsamic scented resin. The I 

 [called Cascarilla bark] of Croton Eleuteria, a shrub of the Antilles, contains a volatile oil and a b 

 resinous principle, to which it owes its stimulating tonic and slightly astringent qualities, 

 geners of tropical America (C. nitens, micans, suberosus, Pseudo-china) have similar properties and 

 seeds of several of them contain a strong-smelling essential oil, used in colonial perfumery ; si 

 of C qratitsimum, which recalls the scent of Mint. C. Tiylium is a small tree of the Moluccas, all par 

 of which are putative. Its seeds contain a fixed oil [Croton-oil], combined with a resin and a pec 



