113 
Geography. This extensive order, which probably does not contain 
few'er than 1500 species, either described or undescribed, exists in the greatest 
abundance in equinoctial America, where about 3-8ths of the whole number 
have been found ; sometimes in the form of large trees, frequently of bushes, 
still more usually of diminutive weeds, and occasionally of deformed, leafless, 
succulent plants, resembling Cactacese in their port, but diflbring from them 
in every other particular. In the Western world they gradually diminish as 
they recede from the equator, so that not above 50 species are known in North 
America, of which a very small number reaches as far as Canada. In the 
Old World the known tropical proportion is much smaller, arising probably 
from the species of India and equinoctial Africa not having been described 
with the same care as those of America ; not above an eighth having been 
found in tropical Africa, including the islands, and a sixth being perhaps about 
the proportion in India. A good many species inhabit the Cape, where they 
generally assume a succulent habit ; and there are almost 1 20 species from 
Europe, including the basin of the Mediterranean : of these, 1 6 only are found 
in Great Britain, and 7 in Sweden. 
Properties. The excellent monograph of Adrien de Jussieu contains the 
best information that exists upon this subject ; and I accordingly avail myself 
of it, making a few additions to his facts. The general property is that of ex- 
citement, which varies greatly in degree, and consequently in effect. This 
principle resides chiefly in the milky secretion of the order, and is most 
powerful in proportion as that secretion is abundant. The smell and taste of a 
few are aromatic ; but in the greater part the former is strong and nauseous, 
the latter acrid and pungent. The hairs of some species are stinging. The 
bark of varies species of Croton is aromatic, as Cascarilla ; and the flowers of 
some, such as Caturus spiciflorus, give a tone to the stomach. Many of them 
act upon the kidneys, as several species of Phyllanthus, the leaves of Mercu- 
rialis annua, and the root of Ricinus communis. Several are asserted by au- 
thors to be useful in cases of dropsy ; some Phyllanthuses are emmenagogue. 
The bark of several Crotons, the wood of Croton Tiglium and common Box, 
the leaves of the latter, of Cicca disticha, and of several Euphorbias, are sudo- 
rific, and used against syphilis ; the root of various Euphorbias, the juice of 
Commia, Anda, Mercurialis perennis, and others, are emetic ; and the leaves 
of Box and Mercurialis, the juice of Euphorbia, Commia, and Hura, the seeds 
of Ricinus, Croton Tiglium, &c. &c., are purgative. Many of them are also 
dangerous, even in small doses, and so fatal in some cases, that no practi- 
tioner would dare to prescribe them ; as, for example, Manchineel. In fact, 
there is a gradual and insensible transition, in this order, from mere stimulants 
to the most dangerous poisons. The latter have usually an acrid character, 
but some of them are also narcotic, as those Phyllanthuses the leaves of which 
are thrown into water to intoxicate fish. Whatever the stimulating principle 
of Euphorbiacese may be, it seems to be of a very volatile nature, because ap- 
plication of heat is sufficient to dissipate it. Thus the root of the Jatropha 
Manihot or Cassava, which when raw is one of the most violent of poisons, 
becomes a wholesome nutritious article of food when roasted. In the seeds 
the albumen is harmless and eatable, but the embryo itself is acrid and dan- 
gerous. Independently of this volatile principle, there are two others belong- 
ing to the order, which require to be noticed ; the first of these is Caoutchouc, 
that most innocuous of all substances, produced by the most poisonous of all 
families, which may be almost said to have given a new arm to surgery, and 
which has become an indispensable necessary of life ; it exists in Artocarpeie 
and elsewhere, but is chiefly the produce of species of Euphorbiacese. Tlie 
other is the preparation called Turnsol, which, although chieflv obtained from 
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