364 
ists in so high a degree in some of them as to render them dangerous poisons. 
The most remarkable is the Dumb Cane, or Caladium Seguinum, a native of 
the West Indies and South America, growing to the height of a man : this 
plant has the power, when chewed, of swelling the tongue and destroying the 
power of speech. Hooker relates an account of a gardener, who “ incau- 
tiously bit a piece of the Dumb Cane, when his tongue swelled to such a de- 
gree that he could not move it ; he became utterly incapable of speaking, and 
was confined to the house for some days in the most excruciating torments.” 
Exot. Bot. 1 . The same excellent botanist adds, that it is said to impart an 
indelible stain to linen. P. Browne states, that its stalk is employed to bring 
sugar to a good grain when it is too viscid, and cannot be made to granulate 
properly by the application of hme alone ; Arum ovatum is used for the same 
purpose. The leaves of Arum esculentum excite violent salivation and a burn- 
ing sensation in the fauces, as I have myself experienced. The fresh leaves of 
Dracontium pertusum are employed by the Indians of Demerara as vesicato- 
ries or rubefiants in cases of dropsy. Milk in which the acrid root of Arum 
triphyllum has been boiled has been known to cure consumption. DC. Not- 
withstanding this acridity, the fiat under-ground stems, called roots, and the 
leaves of many Aracece, are harailess, and even nutritive when roasted or 
boiled, as, for instance, the roots of Arum esculentum, Colocasia, mucronatum, 
violaceum, and others, which, under the names of Cocoa root, Eddoes, and 
Yams, are common articles of food in hot countries. The roots (cormi) of 
the Arum maculatum are commonly eaten by the country people in the Isle of 
Portland ; they are macerated, steeped, and the powder obtained from them is 
sent to London for sale under the name of Portland Sago. Enc. of PI. 800. 
Medicinally, the root in its recent state is stimulant, diaphoretic, and expec- 
torant. liie root and seeds of the Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus fcetida, are 
pow^erful antispasmodics ; they are also expectorants, and useful in phthisical 
coughs. They have considerable reputation in North America as palliatives 
in paroxysms of asthma. Barton, 1. 130. The prepared root of Dracontium 
polyphyllum is supposed in India to possess antispasmodic virtues, and is con- 
sidered a valuable remedy in asthma ; it is also used in hemorrhoids. Ainslie, 
2. 50. The root of the Labaria plant of Demerara, which is probably the 
same thing, is thought by the Indians to be an antidote to the bite of ser- 
pents. Ed. N. Ph. Journ. June 1830, p. 169. The root of Acorns calamus 
is aromatic and stimulant. The seeds of Orontium aquaticum and Arum sa- 
gittifolium are acrid, but become eatable by roasting. Tlie spadixes of some 
species have a fetid putrid smell ; others, such as Aiaim cordifolium, Italicum, 
and maculatum, are said to disengage a sensible quantity of heat at the time 
when they are about to expand. Agardh considers that the acrid principle, 
which, notwithstanding its fugacity, has been lately obtained pure, is no doubt 
of great power as a stimulant. ApJi. 133. 
§ 1. AMBROSINIEiE, 
Schtt. 
Cryptocoryne, Fisch. 
Ambrosinia, Mich. 
Stylochaeton, Lepr. 
§ 2. DRACUNCULINEiE, 
Schtt. 
Arisarum, Tourn. 
Balmisa, Lag. 
Arisaema, Mart. 
Biarum, Schtt. 
Arum, L. 
Typhonium, Schtt. 
Sauromatum, Schtt. 
GENERA. 
Dracunculus, Tourn. Culcasia, Beauv. § 6. Orontiace.e, 
Pythion, Mart. Denhamia, Schtt. R. Br. Prodr. 
Candarum, Rchb. Philodendron, Schtt. 337. (1810) 
Amorphophallus, Bl. § 4. ANAPOREiE, Schtt. Pothos, L. 
Thomsonia, Wall. Spathicarpa, Hooker. Lasia, Lour. 
Pythonium, Schtt. Dieffenbachia, Schtt. Anthurium, Schtt. 
§ 3. Caladie^, Schtt. Homalomena, Schtt. Spathiphyllum, Schtt. 
Remusatia, Schtt. Aglaonema, Schtt. Dracontium, L. 
Colocasia, Ray. Richardia, Kth. Symplocarpus, Salisb. 
Caladium, Vent. Zantedeschia, Spr. Ictodes, Big. 
Peltandra, Raf. § 5. Called, Schtt. Spathyema, Raf. 
Xanthosoma, Schtt. Calla, L. Orontium, L. 
Acontias, Schtt. Monstera, Adans. 
Syngonium, Schtt. Scindapsus, Schtt. 
