ULMACE^. 1T3 



The juice of Antiaris toxicaria has been proposed as a curative ; it is 



an energetic evacnant, but probably very dangerous. Beside this 



species some are mentioned as not injurious, as A. innoxia^ and A. 



Bennetti^ which have various uses in the Yiti isles, principally to 



prepare and dye the barks of which the natives make their coarse 



garments. In Ceylon, A. saccidora^ is employed to make tissues and 



especially sacks, the foundation of which is a thin round of wood the 



only portion preserved of an entire log chosen of the height desired 



for the sack ; the coats of this are formed of the cylinder of bark 



separated by beating and finally turned. Other Artocarpeoe have an 



acrid and caustic juice, notably Piratinera spuria,^ of the Antilles 



and many species of Artocarpus. In singular contrast to these 



qualities of their latex, diametrically opposite qualities apparently 



are ascribed to that of the famous Cow tree of South America, 



Piratinera utilis^ which constitutes a true vegetable milk analogous, 



it is said, in its physical properties and alimentary value, to the milk 



of the cow;^ although it has been more recently remarked that 



great abatement must be made from the value attributed to this 



aliment ^ which is obtained in abundance from incisions made in the 



bark. A thick and viscous gummy milk is also extracted from the 



bark of Piratinera Alicastrmn^ a Jamaican species and its young 



1 Bl. Etimphia i. 172, t. 54. — A. toxicaria, to contain a fatty matter soluble at 40°, 



Hook. Gomp. to Bot. Mag. t. 17 (not Lesch.). which, united with an albuminoid substance, 



— A. Duiia Span. Zinnaa, xv. 343. — Arior salts, etc., would constitute a complete aliment. 



toxicaria fiemina Eumph. Herb. Amhoin. ii. 264. But there is great difference as to the propor- 



? Seem. Bonplamdia, ix. (1861), 259; x. 3. tions of these useful ingredients between pbr 



t. 7; M. Vit. 263, t. 72 {Mavu ni Toga, Mami). servers who have treated of this juice. The 



* Dalz. Soo . Journ. lii. 232. — Wight, Icon. fruit is said to be edible but viscous. 



t. 1958. — A. Zeylanica Seem. Bonplamdia, x. 4. 7 Mahoot [Tour Aw Monde, xii. 167, 216) says 



■ — Lepurandra saccidm-a Nimmo, Fl. Bomb. 193. that this milk, at first veiy sweet to the palate 



M. Thwaites {Emim. PI. Zeyl. 427) believes soon leaves in the mouth a bitter and diaagree- 



this species identical with A. innoxia Bl. able taste, that its daily use as an alimentary 



* Brossimum sptirimn Sw. Fl. Ind. Occ. 20. — subatanoe'would soon produce serious disorders 

 Milk-wood, P. Bk Jam. 369, n. 8. in the animal economy, and that the natives 



5 Galactodendron utile H. B. K. Nov. Gen. et taste it partly from want of occupation, partly 

 Spec. vii. 163. — Endl. Enchirid. 168 — Mer. et to assuage their thirst, partly to show the 

 Del. Diet. Mat. Med. iii. 321. — Eosenth. Syn. curious that a small dose of this liquid may 

 PI. JDiaph. 196. — Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 2723, be taken without danger ; but that they do not 

 2724. — Brosimiim utile Endl, — Lindl. Veg. make their nourishment of it ; that they use it 

 Kingd, 270 [Palo de Vaca, Sandi) . mixed with soot to calk their vessels, also as an 



6 It contains 3'73 per cent, of fibrin and astringent in cases of tenesmus and dysentery, 

 vegetable albumen [Ann. de Chim. et Phya. vii. ^ Brosimum Alieaitrwn Sw. Fl. Ind, Oic. i. 17, 

 182). M. Boussingadlt has collected this t. 1, fig. 1. — Tuss. Journ. Bot. i. 202, t. 7. — 

 vegetable milk and stated its alimentary Eosenth. op. cit.'lS6. — Alieastnm, arioreum fol. 

 qualities. Solly found that it contained Ovat. Alt. Fruct. SoUiariis P. Be. Jam, 372 

 30'57 per cent, of galactine. It is said also [Bread Nut). 



