SPURGE FAMILY 437 



America, abounding in a milky juice of so poisonous a nature 

 that it has been known to occasion death in a few minutes. It is 

 used by the Indians to poison their arrows. The poisonous 

 principle, however, may be dissipated by heat, after which the 

 root may be converted into the most nourishing food. The roots 

 are sometimes eaten by the Indians, simply roasted ; and the heat 

 of the sun even is sufficient to dissipate the noxious properties, 

 for if it be sliced and exposed for some hours to the direct rays of 

 the sun cattle may eat it with perfect safety. It is commonly, 

 however, grated into a pulp and subjected to a heavy pressure 

 until all the juice is drained off. This fresh juice is highly 

 poisonous, but, if boiled with meat and seasoned, makes, under 

 the name of Cassareep, an excellent soup, which is wholesome 

 and nutritious. The pulp, which is called cassava, requires no 

 further preparation, being simply baked in the form of thin cakes 

 on a hot iron. This bread is so palatable to those who are accus- 

 tomed to it as to be preferred to that made of wheaten flour. By 

 washing the pulp in water and suffering the latter to stand, a 

 sediment of starch is produced, which, after being dried on hot 

 plates, which partially converts it into dextrine, is the familiar, 

 light, digestible, and nourishing tapioca. Caoutchouc, or rubber, 

 is furnished in greater or less abundance by many plants of this 

 Order, but especially by South American species of Hevea. The 

 fragrant tonic, Cascarilla Bark, is produced by Croton Eleutheria, 

 a shrub belonging to this Order which is a native of the Bahamas; 

 and the violently cathartic Croton-oil is extracted from the seeds 

 of C. Tiglium, a native of the Malabar coast. Castor-oil is ex- 

 pressed from the seeds of Ricinus communis, which is frequently 

 grown as an ornamental foliage-plant in English gardens under 

 the name of Palma-Christi. 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 fond of browsing on the 

 leaves, which kill them. No satisfactory substitute is known for 

 the wood of this tree as material for the wood-engraver. 



i. Euphorbia. — Involucre cup-shaped, containing 12 or more 

 staminate -flowers each of 1 stamen and 1 carpellate flower with 

 3-lobed ovary ; styles 3 ; stigmas 2-cleft ; fruit 3-chambered, 

 3-seeded. 



2. Buxus. — Evergreen shrubs with opposite leaves; flowers 

 monoecious, bracteate, axillary; perianth of 4 — 12 leaves; stamens 

 4 ; ovary 3-chambered, 6-seeded. 



3. Mercurialis. — Herbs with opposite, serrate leaves ; flowers 



