1082 
NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. 
Order CXXXIL THYMEL^^E. 
Nearly all shrubby plants, found in all parts of the world, but most abundantly in the south of Africa. The 
flowers are white, yellow, or red, most commonly in clusters, and often fragrant ; the foliage is entire, either 
smooth or silvery, and generally very neat. Their wood is particularly soft ; their inner bark easily separable, 
and in Daphne Lagetta, pulls out by the division of the vertical fibres into a sort of network resembling 
lace Their bark is extremely acrid, acting as a vesicatory when applied to the skin, and if chewed, producing 
extreme heat and toi'ture in the mouth ; a decoction of it has been used with some success in venereal 
diseases. The seeds of these plants are poisonous to man, but birds eat them with impunity. The fibres of 
Dirca and Lagetta are used for cordage ; those of Daphne gnidium and Passerina tinctoria are employed in 
the south of Europe for staining wool yellow, which is converted into green by the addition of Isatis. 
73 Pimelea B. P. 910 Daphne W. 913 Stell^ra W. 915 Lachnae'a W. 
249 Struth;ola W. 911 Dirca IV. 914 Passerina L. 1032 Dais W. 
909 Lagetta J. 912 Gnidia W. 
Order CXXXIII. SANTALACE^. 
Trees or dwarf herbs, with inconspicuous or unattractive flowers. They are chiefly natives of the Cape, 
New Holland, and India, a few only being found in Europe and North America. Their virtues are few. The 
wood of Santalum album has a sweet aromatic flavor, and a slightly bitter taste : it is chiefly known as a 
perfume, although it is said to possess vnild sudorific properties. The leaves of Myoschilos are purgative, of 
Osyris japunica eatable as salad ; Tliesium is slightly astringent. 
307 Santalum W. 908 Memecylon W. 2051 Osyris W. 2161 Nyssa W. 
56a Thesiura W. 1033 Bucida iV. 2141 Fusanus L. 2162 Hamiltonia W. 
Order CXXXIV. ELiEAGNE.E. 
Hardy shrubs or small trees, with deciduous leaves, covered, as well as the bark, with minute silvery scales : 
their flowers are inconspicuous, but sometimes agreeably fragrant. They occupy but little space ; a few 
inhabiting China and Japan, and the remainder Europe, North America, and Guiana. The berries of 
Hippophae rhamnoides, wfiich are slightly acid, are used as a kind of sauce by the Swedes. 
259 Elaeagnus W. '2.051 Shepherdia Nutt. 2058 Hippophae TV. 
Order CXXXV. ARISTOLOCHI^. 
Here we are on the limits of Monocotyledones and Dicotyledones. The species are herbaceous or half 
shrubby plants, with simple, often reiiiform, leaves ; and mottled grotesque flowers, usually brownish pur[)le. 
Their roots are all bitter, and jjf.ssessed of tonic and stimulating properties; but the degree in which ihey 
exist in different s])ecies is not at present ascertained. The Aristolochias have been in former days pr li.^'.Mi as 
emmenagogues, and many are still u>ed in S;)uth America as a remedy for the bite of serpents. A'sarum 
europte um is a purgative arid emetic when fresh, but its powers are much diminished by drying ; its dried 
leaves are occasionally used by the country people in some parts of England as a sternutatory. 
1072 A'sarum IV. 1934 Aristolochia W. 
Order CXXX VI. EUPHORBI ACE^. 
Weeds and lofty trees, of such varied appearance and property, that it is scarcely possible to frame a brief 
character by which they can be expressed. Their vegetation in cold countries is mostly herbaceous, in hot 
ciiuntries frutescent or arborescent ; their juice is milky, and their flowers mostly inconspicuous. It is for 
their medicinal properties that they are chiefly known, and these are as various as their aspect ; mostly, how- 
ever, dangerous, and always to be suspected. In a few of them, the smell and taste are aromatic ; but in most, 
there is either no smell or it is nauseous, and the taste constantly acrid and pungent. Some possess also an 
acrid limpid fluid, which is given out by the leaves when touched. Many of them act strongly upon the 
kidneys, as several species of Phyllanthus, the leaves of Mercurialis annua, and the root of Ricinus coinmiinis. 
Manv are said to be powerful medicines in cases of dropsy. The bark of several Cr(')tons, the wood of Croton 
Tigli'um and Buxus, the leaves of the same, and also of Cicca disticha, several Euphorbias, and others, are 
recorded as sudorifics, and useful against syphi'is; as emetics, we find the roots of the Eui)h6rbias, the juice 
of Commia, A'nda, Mercurialis perennis, &c. A great number are purgative, especially the leaves of Bvixus 
and Mercurialis, the juice of Euphorbia, Commia, Hnra, the seeds of Ricinus, Croton Tiglium, A'nd.i, and 
Jatropha. The effects of some others are so dangerous, particularly Hippi'>mane, that it is not advisable to 
administer them even in very small doses ; even in many Euphorbias it is difficult to draw a line between the 
quantity in which they are poisonous, and that in which they are harmless or useful. The nature of their 
poison is mostly acrid, occasionally, however, mixed with something narcotic, as is appnrent from the effect of 
those which are used for poisoning or rather stupifying fish. The purgative oil in which the seeds of many 
are found to abound, has been determined to reside wholly in the albumen ; hence the embryo of some, as 
Omphalea diandra, is eaten as nuts. Boiling or roasting has also the effect of dissipating their noxious effects ; 
thus Jalropha Manihot, than which there scarcely exists a more dangerous poison, affords a food when sub- 
mitted to fire, called cassava, the flour of which is often used in London as a luxury for making i)uddings, 
than which few are reputed to be more wholesome. But the most curious of all the j)roducts of Euphoi biaceaa 
is the Caoutchouc, that singular substance which, although the produce of dangerous acrid trees, possesses 
nothing whatever which has been found capable of acting upon the human system in whatever way applied, 
which is unalterable either in air, in water, or in spirits, although it softens at a high temperature. It is 
chiefly produced by Siph('jnia elastica, but also exists in the juice of very many others, as Excajcaria Agallocha, 
Hippnmane Mancinella, Hiira crepitans, Sapium aucuparium, Plukenetia volijbilis, the Jatrophas, Mabea^ 
Oniphaleas, and many others. Tournesole, another curious chemical preparation, is the juice of Croton 
tinctorium, but is also found in several others. Many other properties belong to this order, which it would be 
too long to detail in this place. The curious reader will find ample information in the medical division of 
M. Adrian de Jussieu's monograph of the order, from which most of the foregoing remarks are taken. 
Section I. 
1963 Pachysandra Mi. 1957 Buxus W. 1978 Securinega W. 2071 Fluggea W. 
Section II. 
1958 Cicca W. 2092 Kiggelaria W. 2122 Cluytia W. 
Phyllanthus W. 2025 Andrachne W. 2148 Bridelia W. 
Section III. 
2032 Cr6ton W. 2105 Rottlera Roxb. 2034 Ricinus W. 2028 Aleurites W. 
21 18 Adelia W. 2104 Gelunium Roxb.' 2033 Jatropha W. 2097 Hysenanche H. K. 
2044 B6rya W. 2119 Loureira W. 
2038 Acalypha W. 
Section IV. 
2088 Mercurialis W. 2040 Plukcngtia W. 
1944 Tragia W, 
