FLACOURTIACEiE. 143 



The analysis of the I. ipecacuanha by Richard, already alluded to, shows 

 that these plants owe their emetic property to the presence of Emetine ; their 

 other qualities are probably to be attributed to a peculiar extractive matter, 

 soluble in water, and which exists in large proportion in the root. 



Several other species of Ionidium are used medicinally by the natives of 

 South America, the principal of these are: the white Ipecacuanha of China, 

 I. heterophyllum, Vent. ; this has slender, white, tortuous, nauseous roots : 

 white Ipecacuanha of the Galipous, I. hybanthus, Vent. ; this is generally 

 known in Brazil by the name of Poaya. The roots are white, slender, 

 twisted and interlaced, and of a disagreeable taste and smell. White Ipeca- 

 cuanha of Guiana, I. calceolaria, Vent. ; in this the roots are slender, no- 

 dose, tortuous, striated longitudinally, yellowish-gray; the taste is at first 

 mucous, and afterwards somewhat acrid and bitter ; it is emetic in doses of 

 30 grs., and purgative in those of 40. Ipecacuanha of St. Thomas, I. stria- 

 tum, Vent. ; the roots somewhat resemble those of the true Ipecacuanha, I. 

 polygcefolium, Vent. I. poaya, St. Hilaire, called in Brazil Poaya do 

 campo; the root is tortuous and annulated : emetic in doses of 25 to 30 grs. 

 I. brevicaule, Martius. I. urticcefolium, Martius. All these and many 

 others are employed as substitutes for the genuine Ipecacuanha, and act in 

 a similar manner, except that they are more apt to affect the bowels. 



Order 15.— FLACOURTIACE^.— Lindley. 



Sepals 4-7, slightly cohering at base. Petals equal in number to the sepals, and alter- 

 nate with them or wanting. Stamens hypogynous, equal in number to the petals or some 

 multiple of them. Ovary roundish, sessile or slightly stipulate, free, 1 or more celled, 

 with 2 or more parietal placentae ; style filiform or wanting ; stigmas several, more or 

 less distinct ; ovules attached to the surface or sides of the placentas. Fruit 1-celled, 

 'either fleshy and indehiscent, or capsular, with 4 or 5 valves, the centre filled with a thin 

 pulp. Seeds indefinite, usually enveloped in a pellicle formed by the withered pulp. 

 Albumen fleshy, somewhat oily ; embryo straight, with the radicle turned to the hilum ; 

 cotyledons foliaceous, flat. 



The species of this order are shrubs or small trees, with alternate simple 

 leaves on short petioles, with no stipules, of a coriaceous texture and often 

 marked with transparent dots. They are natives of tropical climates with 

 the exception of a few occurring in New Zealand, &c. 



The fruits of several of the Flacourtias are edible, having a pleasant sub- 

 acid taste. According to Ainslie {Mat. Med. ii. 407), the leaves and shoots 

 of the F. cataphracta have a taste not unlike that of rhubarb, but without 

 bitterness ; they are considered as stomachic, and in a slight degree astringent, 

 and are prescribed in India in diarrhoea, general weakness, and phthisis ; 

 and in Behar an infusion is given in cases of hoarseness. An infusion of F. 

 sepiaria is said by Dr. Wight to be useful in bites of snakes, and the bark 

 infused in oil so as to form a liniment, is employed on the Malabar coast as 

 a remedy in gout. Several other plants of the order are possessed of active 

 properties, but no definite account has been given of their application or 

 uses. 



The most important of the species is the Bixa orellana, the angular seeds 

 of which are covered with an orange-red pulp or pellicle,- this, when sepa- 

 rated and prepared, is the Arnotto of the shops, so much used in the arts. 

 It is a native of South America and the West Indies, and is cultivated in 

 India. Arnotto is prepared by rubbing the seeds in water, and then strain- 



