477 



Cfje Crca£urp of 3Sotan», 



ETJPH 



of the involucre, and as they flower in 

 winter time and remain long in bloom, 

 they are deservedly great favourites. 



Those cultivated for their singular and 

 grotesque appearance are such as have suc- 

 culent prickly cactus-like stems, and are 

 for the most part without leaves. Among 

 the hest known are E. grandldens, a tall- 

 growing kind, sending out whorls of 

 branches like those of a candelabrum ; E. 

 officinarum, E. antiquorum, and E. canari- 

 ensis, all somewhat similar; E. Mystrix, 

 which has long spines and lance-shaped 

 leaves at the top part of the stem, the 

 lower portion being destitute of them ; and 

 E. melo/ormis, a dwarf species, in shape 

 like a melon or an Echinocactiis, but with- 

 out spines. Several of them are so like cac- 

 tuses that they are frequently mistaken for 

 them, especially as the flowers are com- 

 paratively rarely seen ; a slight puncture 

 with a pin or the point of a knife will, 

 however, immediately decide the matter, 

 as, should the plant be a Euphorbia, a 

 milky fluid will ooze out. 



In some districts the succulent Spurges 

 are found in great abundance, as they 

 are able to thrive where little else can 

 grow. Thus in the Canary Islands and 

 Teneriffe E. canariensis grows in great 

 abundance in arid rocky districts. Pro- 

 fessor Smythe speaks of this plant as at- 

 taining a height of ten or more feet, while 

 the branches spread on all sides over 

 twenty feet. The stems are erect, stiff, 

 leafless, prismoidal and ill-favoured, 'the 

 product of light and raw heat, salt land, 

 and no shade or genial moisture.' In some 

 parts of South Africa, too, the tall columnar 

 species constitute the characteristic fea- 

 ture of the landscape — E. grandidens for 

 one, being said to attain a height of 

 thirty feet and upwards. 



The milky juice, which forms one of the 

 constant characteristics of these plants, 

 contains active medicinal properties. 

 Hence in all countries where they grow, 

 some of them have been, or are, employed 

 medicinally. The most important of them 

 for this purpose are some of the succulent 

 ones, which furnish the drug known as 

 Euphorbium. The exact kind which sup- 

 plies this resinous substance is not pre- 

 cisely known. E. canariensis, E. officina- 

 rum', E. antiquorum, and E. tetragona have 

 all been mentioned. In commerce Eu- 

 phorbium exists in the form of small 

 irregular yellowish lumps, pierced with 

 one or more holes, in which are often found 

 the remains of the prickles of the stem 

 from which the resin exuded. The drug 

 is procured from Barbary, where the 

 natives are said to make incisions into the 

 branches, in consequence of which the 

 milky juice exudes. This is so acrid, that it 

 | excoriates the hand when applied to it. 

 ! The juice is allowed to dry and harden on 

 ; the stem, and after a time the lumps fall 

 i off and are collected with caution, the 

 I collectors being obliged, says Mr. Jackson 

 i in his account of Morocco, to tie a cloth 

 over their mouth and nostrils, to prevent 

 the small dusty particles from annoying 



I them, as they produce incessant sneezing. 

 Euphorbium is an intensely acrid sub- 

 I stance, which severely affects the eyes, 

 nose, and lungs of those who come in 

 i contact with the drug in its powdered 

 state, if the greatest precautions be not 

 taken. It is said also to induce delirium. 

 From its violent action, it is now rarely if 

 ever used in medicine, but it was employed 

 as a n emetic, purgative, etc., and externally 

 as a rubefacient. 



The natives of India are said to use the 

 juice of E. antiquorum as an external ap- 

 plication in rheumatism and neuralgia, 

 and when diluted as apurgative. E. Nivulia 

 is used for similar purposes. The juice of 

 E. heptagona and other African species is 

 employed by the natives to poison their 

 arrows, while the same purpose is effected 

 in Brazil by the juice of E. cotinifolia ; that 

 of E. ligularia is used in India for the 

 removal of warts ; the root, moreover, of 

 the Indian species first named is em- 

 ployed both internally and externally in 

 cases of snake-bite. So also many of the 

 leafy species in which the stem is not 

 fleshy, are considered valuable as purga- 

 tives in many parts of the world. Others 

 are esteemed for the cure of syphilis ; while 

 some are employed to poison fish. E. 

 hibernais said to have been used in Ireland 

 for this purpose. The roots of some species 

 are emetic, such as those of E. Gerardiana, 

 as well as those of E. Pithyusa in the south 

 of Europe, and of E. Ipecacuanha in Ameri- 

 ca, but they are not to be relied on, as they 

 are apt to produce dangerous purging. Nor ' 

 are astringent and aromatic, properties I 

 wanting, for E. thymifolia, an Indian plant, 

 has these qualities, as also E. hypericifolia, 

 a native of tropical America. 



The poisonous principle pervading these 

 plants is more or less dissipated by heat, 

 and hence we hear of a few of them form- 

 ing articles of diet ; thus E. edulis is men- 

 tioned as a potherb, so also E. balsamifera: 

 the juice too of the latter is said when 

 concentrated (by heat?) to furnish an 

 i edible jelly, which is eaten by the natives 

 ! of the Canary Islands ; and Berthollet even 

 mentions the natives of Teneriffe as being 

 ; in the habit of removing the bark from 

 J E. canariensis, and then sucking the inner 

 ( portion of the stem, in order to quench 

 \ their thirst. This is indeed not so impro- 

 [ bable as at first appears, as it is the limpid 

 watery ascending sap which is taken, while 

 the acrid milky descending sap is removed 

 with the rind of the tree, which it perco- 

 lates. The juice of E. Cattimandoo, a 

 native of the Madras presidency, fur- 

 nishes caoutchouc of a quality which is 

 such as to enable it to be put to a variety 

 of uses ; some of it was favourably reported 

 on in the Jury Reports of the Great Exhi- 

 bition of 1851. Dr. "Wight, in his Icones 

 Plantarum Indice orientalis, gives the fol- 

 lowing information on the authority of Mr. 

 Elliot : — ' The milk is obtained by cutting 

 off the branches, when it flows freely. It 

 is collected and boiled on the spot, at which 

 time it is very elastic, but after being 

 . formed into cakes or cylinders, it becomes 



