600 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



arboreous Palma Christi of the West Indie's, will produce herbaceous plants 

 in this country, differing in no respect from those in common cultivation. 



The Castor oil was known in the earliest ages, since Caillaud found some 

 of the seeds in Egyptian sarcophagi of the most remote antiquity. It is 

 considered, by many eminent writers, to be the plant spoken of in Scripture, 

 and which, in our translation, is called Gourd (Jonah, chap, iv.) It is 

 noticed by Herodotus and Hippocrates, the latter of whom employed the 

 root. By the Romans, it was called Ricinus, from a fancied resemblance 

 of its seeds to the dog-tick. 



The oil is obtained from the seeds by decoction, by expression, or by 

 alcohol ; the former of these modes is pursued in the East and West Indies, 

 and is apt to afford an acrid and irritating product ; the second, which is 

 that pursued in this country, when properly conducted, gives a bland and 

 colourless result ; the third has- been tried in France, and although the oil 

 thus obtained is very pure, it is apt to become speedily rancid. Scarcely 

 any oil is imported ; what is used being made in this country, whence large 

 quantities are sent abroad. Castor oil is of a thick, viscid consistence, almost 

 colourless, or of a slight yellow colour, with a faint but unpleasant odour, a 

 mild and nauseous taste, succeeded by a feeble sensation of acrimony. It is 

 heavier than most of the fixed oils. When exposed to the air it gradually 

 thickens. When pure it is soluble in its own volume of alcohol. It consists 

 of Volatile oil, several Fatty acids, Glycerine, &c. 



Medical Uses. — It is a mild cathartic, operating promptly without gri- 

 ping, and acting rather as a mere evacuant, than in increasing the intestinal 

 secretions. . It is admirably calculated for children, delicate or pregnant 

 females, and also for all cases where it is merely wished to open the bowels, 

 or where they are in an irritated condition, precluding the use of other pur- 

 gatives. The only disadvantage attendant on the administration of this re- 

 medy, is the extreme disgust it occasions in a majority of persons, not from 

 its taste, but from the unpleasant and nauseous sensation created in the throat 

 and fauces from its adhering to them. Various modes have been devised to 

 obviate this, by mixing it with hot coffee, milk, &c. ; the best plan, where 

 the stimulus is not contra-indicated, is to mix it with the froth of porter. In 

 infants, the best plan is to float it on the surface of hot mint or cinnamon 

 water. 



The dose, for an adult, is about a fluid ounce ; for an infant, from one to 

 four fluid drachms. It has been stated that its cathartic action is not in a 

 ratio with the dose, and that a teaspoonful or two will often operate as effec- 

 tually as a larger quantity. (Dunglison, Therap. i. 164.) 



A vast number of species, belonging to this tribe, are possessed of much 

 interest in a medical point of view ; but it would be impossible to notice them 

 all, even in the briefest manner, within the limits assigned to this work. 

 The following are, however, of too much importance to be passed over. 

 The seeds of Anda gomesii are employed in Brazil as a purgative, two or 

 three acting safely and speedily ; Martius states, that in emulsion they sel- 

 dom create nausea. The oil from them has been tried here, and it was 

 found that 50 drops would open the bowels, and a larger quantity would in- 

 duce several discharges. (Smith, Phil. Jour. Pharm. iv. 27.) The bark is 

 lactescent, and is used to intoxicate fish ; when toasted, it is considered very 

 effectual in diarrhoea. Siphonia and Hevea afford the Brazilian and Suri- 

 nam caoutchoucs The nuts of Aleurites triloba are considered, in Java, to 

 be aphrodisiac when they are roasted; in a fresh state, they are purgative. 



