SAPINDACE^. 389 



With all these useful j)ro(lucts furnished by the parts of fructifica- 

 tiou of the S(q)iiidacew, we find, on the other hand, dangerous and 

 highly ijoisonous substances. The majority of the American species 

 of Serjania and Paullinia are poisonous or at least doubtful. The 

 juice of S. lethalis ' is considered in Brazil to be narcotic. The 

 Indians use the plant to intoxicate fish. S. noxia ^ is supposed to 

 poison cattle. It is from difi'erent species of Serjania that, in Brazil, 

 the Lccheguana wasp doubtless gathers the materials of that honey 

 of which A. Saint-Hilaiee himself experienced the pernicious 

 effects described by him in a graphic and celebrated narrative.^ 

 llaffonia pubesccns * [&g. 399-403) is quite as much feared in the 

 same country ; its leaves serve, it is said, to depopulate the water- 

 courses, and the honey gathered from its flowers is also considered to 

 be highly doubtfid."' Faullinia pinnata^^ a species found in both 

 America and tropical Africa, is considered, in the latter country espe- 

 cially, to be a terrible poison. The negroes employ its roots and 

 seeds. The Indians who inhabit the Brazilian forests squeeze out, it 

 is said, the juice of the leaves and use them as a vulneraiy. On the 

 banks of the Orinoco, P. Cupana ^ is considered to be wholesome. A 

 sort of yellowish paste obtained from the bruised leaves of this 

 plant by macerating them in water, wrapped, with manioc floui', in 

 the leaves of the Palm or Banana, is mixed with drinking water. 

 The species of Dodoncea sometimes have peculiar properties, owing 

 doubtless to the resinous substance exuding from several species. 

 D. viscosa,^ growing in all the warm countries of the globe, is used to 

 prepare astringent baths and fomentations. The wood of D. dioica 

 Roxu. is prescribed in India for flatulent colics. At the Gape, B. 

 Thunbergiana is considered to be a mild purgative and febrifuge. 

 There are in this family oily plants, such as Alcctri/on excelsum (fig. 

 3G5), a tree from New Zealand, J'appcea, jtEscuIus^ Cardmpermum^ 



' A. 8. II. PI. Rem. Bris. 235; Fl. JSias. senegaknsis 3. is. Ann. Mus, iv. 348. — P. Afri- 



Mer.K.'i^l. — Rosenth. ";;. cU. 111. PL Am- cana G. Don, Oen. Sijst. i. 661. — P. m-ata 



trails A. S. H. (in Mem. Mu.i. xii. 334) ia Schum. ct Tho.vn. Bcskr. 195. Also employed 



equally poisonoug. in Brazil and for ophthalmia and amaurosis. P. 



■ A. S. H. Inc. cit. ii. 3G3. graiidiflora A. S. 11., a Brazilian apucies, is 



•' lielalion d' nil cinpoisonnenunt cause par Inmiel considered in thiit country to have the same 



de la Guipc Leeheguana (in Mem. Mus. xii. properties. 



(1825), 293). ' 11. B. K. Nov. Gen. ct Spec. v. 117. 



^ A. H. H. Fl. Bras. Me>: i. 394. M. (/labrala ' 1-. Mantiss. 238 (part.).— DC. Prod,: i. 



A. S. H. has the same properties. 616. 



^ Serjania mej'icana W. {Paullinia mexicana ^ The Chinese are said to employ as a ])ot- 



L.), an acrid, dangerous plant used in medicine herb the Heart Pea or C. Halicacabun' (lig. 



as an antisyphilitic and antirheumatic. 382), of which they cat the leaves, fruit, and 



' L. dpec. 366.-1)0. Piodr. i. 604, n. .'>.—P. seeds. 



