VALUABLE PAPER BY ROYLE. 
665 
bazars, under the name sejjee muttee {soda- 
earth). This is procured by the incineration 
of plants (unknown) growing not in the 
neighbourhood of the sea, but on the shores 
of the salt lakes scattered through the Indian 
deserts. It seems worthy of inquiry, whether 
the Salsola. so abundant on the banks of the 
Jumna, would yield soda, and, also, whether 
it would be possible to grow any of these 
soda-secreting plants in the saline and barren 
country to its westward, where nothing else 
will now grow.” Page 319. 
“ The Myristicee, usually placed near 
Lr.urinecE, are considered by Dr. Lindley 
more closely allied to Anonacecs. They are 
natives exclusively of the tropics of India 
and America. In the Old "Woi’ld, they extend 
southwards from the tropical islands to New 
Holland, and northwards along the Malayan 
peninsula to Silhet, where is found M. longi- 
folia, Wall., and in the mountains of that 
district M. floribunda, Wall., with M. ungus- 
tifolia, Roxb. Other species are peculiar to 
the peninsula. 
“ Nutmeg forming the albumen, and Mace 
the arillus of the seed of Myristica moschata, 
are well known for their grateful and aroma- 
tic properties. 'I'hey are produced in the 
largest quantities in the Moluccas, but have 
been succesfully cultivated in Penang and 
Bencoolen, but especially in Sumatra. 1 he 
trees thrive and bear fruit even so far north 
as the Calcutta Botanic Garden, and might 
no doubt be successfully cultivated in Tra- 
vancore and the J innivelly district, as well 
as on the Malayan peninsula. The nutmeg 
is called juephul in India, with jouz boa 
(fragrant nut) as its Persian name ; and 
mace — miountree, P. bisLaseh with amakhun 
assigned as its Greek name. Other spe- 
cies yield aromatic nuts, as M. tomentosa, 
perhaps the M. dactyloides of Geertner; M. 
ojficinalis, according to Dr. Martins, in Brazil, 
and M. Oloba, in Santa Fe. The plants of 
this family, like those of the following, have 
a volatile as well as a fixed oil, contained in 
their nuts. The latter is so abundant in 
Virola sebifera, as to be extracted for econo- 
mical purposes. Like many of the Laurmece, 
the Myristicece exude an acrid reddish-co- 
loured juice from incisions in their bark.” 
Page 323 to 324. 
“ The properties of Indian Euphorbiacece 
correspond with those which have been ob- 
served in plants of thisfariiily in otlier parts of 
the world. All a-bcrund in a milky juice, 
which contains Caoutchouc, and is generally 
united with a highly acrid principle of a very 
volatile nature, and tlierefoie easily dissipated 
by heat. According to the degree of concen- 
tration of this principle is the innocuous or 
deadly nature of the substance with which it 
is combined. Thus the seeds of some Euphor- 
biacece, in which it exists in small quantity, 
are eaten ; as those of Aleurites ambinux. and 
of A. triloba, in India: the fruit of Cicm 
disticha is acid, as is that of Emblica officinalis, 
iotm’itig Emblic myrobolans. Though united 
with fecula in the roots of Jatropha Manihot 
or the Cassava, so that they are poisonous 
when raw, it is so effectually separated by 
heat, as to afford an abundant and nourishing 
food to thousands in S. America, the West- 
Indies, and Mexico, The plant succeeds 
completely in India, but it is remarkable that 
it should have been made so iittle use of, 
tliough Sir W. Ainslie has mentioned making 
Tapioca from it when in India. This acrid 
and stimulant principle is combined with fixed 
oils in many of ibe seeds of Euphorbiacece, 
which are well known for their uses as pur- 
gative medicines, as the castor oil plant, 
Ricinus communis, khiroa or cherua of 
tlie Arabs, arunda of the Hindoos, and 
of the Greeks; and also several species 
of Jatropha, as J. Curcas, physic-nut 
(H. bagk-burinda) J. glandulifera is used 
as an escharolic to remove opacities of 
the eye in India (Roxb.) The most 
active, being at the same time safe and 
which is perhaps the most extensively used in 
India, and also considered emmenagogue, is 
the Croton Tiglium, Grana iVlolluccana anti 
d'illi of old Pharmacopoeias, jumalgotta of 
the Hindoos, dund oi the Arabs and Avicen, 
na, for which, in N. India, those of C, 
polyandrum are substituted, and called by the 
same name. Species of P/q/ZZawf/iits are con- 
sidered diuretic, others of the order sudorific, 
and some emetic. 'J he best substitutes for 
Ipecacuanha are said to be some species of 
Euphorbia, as E. Ipecacuanha, Gerardiana, 
&c. ; also Pedilanthus tithymaloides. Space 
would fail, if we were merely to enumerate 
all those to which useful properties have 
been ascribed, but they may be seen in the 
Essay of M. Adrien de Jussieu, Lindley, Fee, 
Roxburgh, and Ainslie. The acrid and 
stimulant piinciple is united with essential 
and fragiani oil in some barks and woods, 
as \n Croton Cascarilla, Eluteria, and grutis- 
simuiu. The wood-cutters of the Delta of the 
Ganges stale, that no Atcallochutn is afforded 
by Exccecaria Agallocha (Roxb.). A peculiar 
principle {cereo-resine, Fee), called Euphor- 
biuni, furfiyoon , (Gr. afrbiyoon) of the, Per- 
sian works on Materia Medica, and said in 
them to be a produce of Soudan and Africa, 
is considered by botanists to be yielded by 
Euphorbia officinarum, Cun iriensis, and anti- 
quorum, 1 doubt whetber the last, at least 
llie species so called in India, yields any, as 
in some experiments 1 made on the subject, 
1 found the juice comparatively inert. The 
leaves ofFJ. nereifolia are considered purga- 
tive and deobslruent ( Ain,slie) ; the root of 
E. ligularia mixed with black pepper, is 
employed for the cure of snake-bites. Some 
of this family are violent poisons, as Hippo- 
mane Mancinella, Hura crepitans, Hycenanche 
glohoiu, Exccecaria Agallocha, Sapium aucu- 
pnrium and indicum. Seeds of the latter 
intoxicate fish, as does the bark of Fluggea 
virosa (Roxb.), and the hairs ofsome species, 
as Tragia cannubina and involucrata, sting as 
violently as nettles. Some species yield oil 
useful for burning, as Elcecocca {Bryandra, 
Thunb.), verrucosa, and Vernicia, the oil and 
varnish trees of China, Aleurites triloba, Ri- 
cinus communis, &c. ; while Stillingia sebifera^ 
or tallow-tiee of China, yielding a vegetable 
fat, is now common about Calcutta, but it is 
