SPURGE TRIBE 257 



Indians, simply roasted, without being previously submitted to 

 the process of grating and repressing the juice. They also use 

 the juice for poisoning their arrows, and were acquainted with the 

 art of converting it into an intoxicating liquid before they were 

 visited by Europeans. By washing the pulp in water and suffering 

 the latter to stand, a sediment of starch is produced, which, under 

 the name of tapioca, is extensively imported into Europe, where it 

 is used for all the purposes to which arrowroot and sago are applied. 

 Caoutchouc, or India-rubber, is a well-known elastic gum, furnished 

 in greater or less abundance by many plants of this Order, but 

 especially by a South American tree, SipJionia or Hevea elastica. 



The fragrant aromatic bark called cascarilla is produced by a 

 shrub belonging to this Order, Croion Eletitheria, a native of the 

 Bahamas, and by other species of Croton indigenous to the West 

 Indies and South America. Croton oil is the product of Croion 

 Tiglium, and is so violent a medicine as to be rarely administered 

 until all other remedies have failed. Castor oil is expressed from 

 the seeds of Ricinus comimmis, an African tree, frequently grown 

 in English gardens as an annual, on account of its handsome leaves. 

 Poinsetia, some of the Crotons, and EupJiorbias are a good deal 

 grown in greenhouses. The Box is the only British tree belonging 

 to this Order, of the poisonous properties of which it partakes, 

 though to a limited extent. In some parts of Persia it is very 

 abundant, and in these districts it is found impossible to keep 

 camels, as the animals are very found of browsing on the leaves, 

 which kill them. The Dog-mercury [Mercurialis perennis) is 

 an herbaceous plant, common in our woods, and an active poison. 

 Another species, M. annua, is less frequently met with, and, though 

 poisonous, is not so virulent as the other species. 



1. Euphorbia (Spurge). — Perianth or involucre bell-shaped, con- 

 taining 12 or more barren flowers or slamens, and I jerlile flower or 

 pistil ; ovary 3-lobed ; styles 3 ; stigmas 2-cleft ; capsule 3-celled, 

 3-seeded. (Name from Euphorhus, physician to Juba, an ancient 

 king of Mauritania, who first employed the plant as medicine.) 



2. Mercurialis (Mercury). — Stamens and pistils on different 

 plants. Perianth 3-cleft to the base ; barren flower ; stamens 9, 

 or more ; fertile flower, styles 2 ; ovary 2-lobed ; capsule 2-celled, 

 2-seeded. (Name in honour of the heathen god, Mercury.) 



3. Buxus (Box). — Stamens and pistils in separate flowers, but 

 on the same plant. Perianth 4-cleft to fhe base ; barren flower 

 with I bract ; stamens 4 ; fertile flower with 3 bracts ; styles 3 ; 

 capsule with 3 horns, 3-celled; cells 2-sccdcd. (Name, the Latin 

 name of the tree.) 



