EUPHORBIACE.E. 173 



such. Euphorbia hypcrkifoliu ' shares iu Columbia the name of 

 Canrhalagua with certain bitter and depimitive Gentimiaccce. of 

 which it appears to possess the properties. In certain countries of 

 South America it is considered as slightly narcotic, elsewhere its juice 

 is employed to extract spots on the cornea. The juice of ^. Chaniwsyce ^ 

 is used for itch and as a sudorific. In Brazil B. filulifera ^ is 

 believed to be good for ciu'ing the bites of serpents ; the juice is used 

 for the treatment of aphtse. E. officinarum* employed in Morocco for 

 tanning leather, is at the same time an insecticide and antirheumatic. 

 There have also been proposed as remedies for rabies E. pilosa ^ of 

 Kussia and 3Icfcun'(ilis tomentosa of the south of Europe." 



Very few of the Euphorhiacecs are edible, with the exception of 

 those whose fruits and seeds we have mentioned as being eaten. Still 

 the shoots of several species of Euphorbia^ as E. balsamifcra of Africa, 

 are eaten when cooked. E. edulis "' is especially mentioned, Loureieo 

 has seen it eaten by the Cochin-chiuese ; species of MercKrialis, 

 of which the peasants are said sometimes to eat the young leaves ; 

 species of Plukenetla of India, particularly P. volubilis,^ from which 

 a delicate dish is prepared by cooking them in the milk of the 

 cocoa-nut ; and finally Ma/iihot, whose leaves, minced and cooked 

 in oil, are sometimes eaten by the South Americans. But the most 

 celebrated aliment of this family is the fecula extracted from the 

 roots of certain species of the latter genus, bearing the names of 

 Cassava, 3fo/issac/ic, Couaqiie, Tapioca and Manioc!-^ It is furnished 

 principally by M. amer (Fr.) or 31anihot edulis of Plumier/" culti- 

 vated in most tropical countries, and by M. doux (Fr.) or Camagnoc^^^ 



> h. Sort. Cliff. 198.— Hook. Exot. Fl. i. t. s X,, Spec. 1192 (part.).— Lamk. 7«. t. 788.— 



36. — Boiss. Prudr. n. 51. Pldm. Nov. Fl. Amer. t. 13, fig. 2. — Rosenth. 



- L. Ammn. iii. Ho. — Boiss. Prodr. n. 101. — op. eit. 822. In the Moluccas, P. coi-iiiciilataSM. 



B. masnilie/isis DC. Fl.fr. v. 3.57. is cultivated as a pot herb. It is employed 



3 L. Amaeu. iii. 114. — Boiss. Prodr. n. 43. topically in the treatment of (edema, abscesses, 



— E. capitula Lamk. Diet. ii. 422. &c. {Snjor Putj . 



* L. Spec. 647. — E. poli/yoiiatuiii IsN. in Act. ' Endl. Enehirid. 596. — GuiB. op. cit. ii. 347 



Acad. He. Par. (1722), 387, t. 10. — Pereira, FUnii. Mat. Med. ed. 4, ii. p. i, 428.— 



5 L. Spec. 659. — E. procera BiEH. — E. rillo'^a H. Bn. in Diet. Enci/cl. Sc. M4d. ser. ii. iv. 561. 



Walust. et Kit. — E.illijrica Lamk. Diet. ii. 436. i» M. ulilli.isima Pohl. I'l. hras. i. 32, t. 24. 



— E. punieulata Lois. M. Aito. Pmdr. 1064, n. 17. — M. edule A. liicu. 



" A peculiar property is mentioned, that of Cub. iii. 208. — Jutropha Manihot L. Spec. 1007. 



being phosphorescent iu the dark, in a Brazilian — Iv&s.Fl. Ant. iii. t. 1. — Descoukt. Fl. Ant iii. 



species, E. plwsphorea Mart. [Reis. 726; in t. 176. — Jaiiipha Manihot II. B.K. Nov. Gen. et 



Linneea [1820], Lilt. 612.— Boiss. Prodr. n. Upec. ii. \{)%.—Bot. Mag. t. 3071. {Mandijba, 



697). Mandiocca, Jiica amarya.). 



' LouE. Fl. Cochineh. (ed. 1790), 298 {Xuong " M. Palmata M. Arq. Prodr. 1062, «. 10. 



raong la). — Boiss. jP/owV.n. 294. — M. diffusa Pohl. — M. Aipi Pohl. — M. 



