EUPHORBIUM. 5.59 



its name in honour of Euphorbus, physician to Juba II., king of Mauri- 

 tania. This monarch, who after a long reign died about a.d. 18, was 

 distinguished for his literary attainments, and was the author of several 

 books' which included treatises on opium and euphorbium. The latter 

 work was apparently extant in the time of Pliny. 



Euphorbium is mentioned by numerous other early writers on medi- 

 cine, as Rufus Ephesius, who probably flourished during the reign of 

 Trajan, by Galen in the 2nd century, and by Vindicianus and Oribasius 

 in the 4th. Aetius and Paulus iEgineta, who lived respectively in the 

 Gth and 7th centuries, were likewise acquainted with it ; and it was 

 also known to the Arabian school of medicine. In describing the route 

 from Aghraat to Fez, El-Bekri^ of Granada, in 1068, mentioned the 

 numerous plants " El-forbioun " growing in the countiy of the Beni 

 Ouareth, a tribe of the Sanhadja; the author noticedthe spiny herba- 

 ceous stems of the shrub abounding in the purgative milky juice. 



Host* (1700-1768) stated that the plant, which he also correctly 

 compared with Opuntia, is growing near Agader, south of Mogador. 



The plant yielding euphorbium was further described at the 

 beginning of the present century by an English merchant named Jack- 

 son, who had resided many years in Morocco. From the figures he 

 published,^ the species was doubtfully identified with Eupliorhia cana- 

 riensis L., a large cactus-like shrub, with quadrangular or hexagonal 

 stems, abounding on scorched and arid rocks in the Canary Islands. 



In the year 1749 it was pointed out in the {Admiralty) Manual of 

 Scientific Enquiry, that the stems of which fragrants are found in com- 

 mercial euphorbium, do not agree with those of E. canariensis. Berg 

 carried the comparison further, and finally from the fragments in ques- 

 tion drew up a botanical description, which with an excellent figure he 

 published * as Euj)hoi'hia resinifera. The correctness of his observa- 

 tions has been fully justified by specimens* which were transmitted to 

 the Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1870, and now form flourishing plants. 



The drug has a place in all the early printed pharmacopoeias. 



Collection — Euphorbium is obtained by making incisions in the 

 green fleshy branches of the plant. These incisions occasion an abun- 

 dant exudation of milky juice which hardens by exposure to the air, 

 encrusting the stems down which it flows; it is finally collected in the 

 latter part of the summer. So great is the acridity of the exudation, 

 that the collector is obliged to tie a cloth over his mouth and nostrils, 

 to prevent the entrance of the irritating dust. The drug is said to be 

 collected in districts lying east and south-east of the city of Morocco. 



Description — The drug consists of irregular pieces, seldom more 

 than an inch across and mostly smaller, of a dull yellow or brown waxy- 



1 Smith, Diet, of Greek and Roman Bio- a branch of the natural size. The latter is 



graphy, ii. (1846) 636. really the figure of a different species, — 



^ Description de I'A/rique septenirionale, apparently that which has been recently 



traduite par M. de Slaae, Journal asiatujtte, named by Cosson Euphorbia Beaumierana. 

 xiii. (Paris, 1859) 413. * Berg und Schmidt, Offizinelle Gewdchse, 



^ Nachrichten von Marohos und Fes, iv. (1863) xxxiv. d. 

 Kopenhagen, 1781. 308. * They were procured by Mr. William 



* Account of the Empire of Morocco and Grace, and forwarded to England by Mr. 



tlie district of Siise, Lond. 1809. 81. pi. C. F. Carstensen, British Vice-Consul at 



7. — The plate represents an entire plant, Mogador. 

 and also what purports to be a portion of 



