HIPP] 



&fje CreaSttrn at 3S0tam?. 



592 



property is that of causing blindness, if by 

 chance the least drop of the milk, or the 

 smoke of the burning wood, comes in con- 

 tact with the eyes. Dr. Seemann, in his 

 Narrative of the Voyage of E.M.S. Herald, 

 states that at Veraguas some of the ship's 

 carpenters were blinded for several days 

 from the. juice getting into their eyes 

 whilst cutting down Manchineel trees ; 

 while he himself suffered temporary loss of 

 sight from merely gathering specimens ; 

 and that the same accident happened to a 

 boat's crew from using the wood for mak- 

 ing a fire. Salt water is said to be an ef- 

 ficacious remedy. The fruit also abounds 

 in a similar acrid milky juice, and,from its 

 tempting appearance, is sometimes bitten 

 by those who are unaware of its deleterious 

 properties, but its burning effect upon I 

 the lips soon causes them to desist. It is I 

 commonly asserted that the Indians use j 

 the juice for poisoning the barbs of their 

 arrows, but, from its excessively volatile 

 nature, this is improbable. [A. SJ 



Hipporaane Mancinella. 



HIPPOPHAE. A shrub or low tree of 

 the order Eleagnacece, distinguished by 

 bearing the male flowers (with four sta- 

 mens) in catkins, and the female in the 

 axils of the leaves, on separate plants ; the 

 calyx tubular, finally assuming the cha- 

 racter of a berry containing a single seed. 

 H. rhamnoides, Sea Buckthorn or Sallow 



I Thorn, is a native of many parts of the 

 coast of Europe, including England, prefer- 



! ring a sandy soil, but sometimes found on 

 the cliffs. In its native haunts it is usually 

 a thick bush with numerous branches ter- 

 minating each in a thorn. The leaves are 



' narrow, of a peculiar leaden green above, 

 silvery and scaly below. The berries, which 

 are produced in great abundance, are yellow 

 and of an acid flavour. The Tartars, it is 

 said, make a jelly of them, and the fisher- 

 men of the Gulf of Bothnia prepare from 

 them a fish-sauce, but in England they 

 appear to be neglected. French, Argous- 

 sier : German, Haftdorn. [C. A. J.] 



HIPPUEIDEJE. A natural group de- 



scribed by Link, now included under Ha- 

 loragace^e : which see. 



HIPPURIS. Aquatic herbaceous plants 

 with whorls of narrow leaves, and incon- 

 spicuous flowers ^also in whorls) of very 

 simple structure. There are only two or 

 three species, all much alike. They grow 

 either wholly or partially submersed in 

 ditches and canals, sending up from their 

 creepingroots numerous unbranched erect I 

 stems, having at short intervals whorls of 

 linear leaves, in the axiisof which are the ] 

 small inconspicuous flowers, each of which 

 contains a single stamen, but no petals, 

 and an ovary with a single seed. The 

 most abundant species is H. vulgaris, the 

 common Mare'stail, plentiful not only in I 

 Great Britain, but throughout Europe and 

 North America. There is some resem- 

 blance in habit between these plants and j 

 -Equisetum, but in all essential characters ' 

 they are perfectly distinct. French, Pessc 

 d'eau ; German, Schafthalm. [C. A. J.] 



HIPTAGE. A genus of climbing shrubs 

 belonging to the Malpighiacece. The flow- 

 ers have a calyx provided with one large 

 gland; unequal fringed petals ; ten stamens, 

 all fertile, and one larger than the rest ; ' 

 one style; and a fruit of three or fewer 9 

 carpels, each provided with three wings. I 

 They are of a white or yellowish colour, 

 and are fragrant. [M, T. MJ 



HIRJEA. A genus of Malpighiacece, dis- j 

 tinguished chiefly by its ten stamens, all of i 

 which are fertile and slightly united at: 

 the base; by its three styles compressed; 

 at their summits, with truncate two- 

 coloured' stigmas; and by its fruits with 

 lateral wings. • [M. T. M.] 



HIRCINOUS. Smelling like a goat. 



HIRONDINAIRE. (Fr.) Vincetoxicum 

 officinale. 

 HIRSE. A kind of Panicum or Millet. 



HIRSUTE, HIRTUS. Hairy ; covered by 

 long tolerably distinct hairs. 



HIRTELLA. A genus of tropical Ame- 

 rican shrubs or small trees, of the order 

 Clirpsobalanacea, differing from its allies 

 in its flve-petaled flowers with from three 

 to fifteen long protruding stamens arising 

 from one side of the flower. Upwards of 

 thirty species are known, all of them with 

 alternate shortly-stalked leaves accom- 

 panied by stipules; the flowers small, 

 white or purplish, disposed in axillary or 

 terminal racemes, and remarkable for 

 theirprotrudingstamens,whichareusualiy 

 much longer than the corollas. The fruits 

 I are pear-shaped furrowed drupes nearly 

 i an inch long, with one seed. B. silicea is 

 a tree of Trinidad, where its bark, which 

 ! is rich in siliceous matter, is said by M. 

 i Criiger to be used by the Indians in mak- 

 j ing pottery. E. physophora, a Brazilian 

 ; species, is exceptional, in having on each 

 ! side of the short leafstalks a leafy bladder- 

 I like process as large as a good-sized pea, 

 . with an opening at top. [A. A. B.] 



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