PURGATIVE ACTION OF CERTAIN EUPIIORBIACEOUS SEEDS. 551 
as the Euphorbiacece , comprising, as it does, above 2500 species, widely diffused 
over the face of the globe. It presents us with a vast variety of plants differ¬ 
ing from each other no less in general habit and configuration than in pro¬ 
perties and uses. To the non-botanically trained eye it seems, at first sight, 
almost incredible that the Cactus-like, leafless Euphorbia , the stately Siphonia 
elastica which often attains a height of sixty feet, and the little humble weed 
Mercurialis annua , should be members of the same family, but, examined scien¬ 
tifically, their botanical relationships become clearly established. 
Commensurate with the striking differences observable in external configura¬ 
tion and habit, are the properties and uses of various members of this Order. 
Belonging to it are many virulent acrid poisons, in the foremost rank of which 
stands the far-famed Manchineel Apple ( Hippomane Mancinella , Linn.) of the 
West Indies; in juxtaposition with which, for the sake of the contrast, we may 
place the East Indian tree Emblica officinalis , the sub-acid, perfectly innocuous 
immature fruit of which has attained some repute in India as an antiscorbutic, 
whilst the mature dried fruit constitutes the Emblic Myrobalan, valued in the 
arts as an astringent. This Order supplies us with purgatives of all degrees of 
potency, from the hydragogue drastic cathartics, croton oil and euphorbium, 
to the much-used castor oil, which, in appropriate doses, may be given to young 
infants with perfect safety. On the other hand, the Brazilian plants Croton 
Draco , C. sanguijluus , and C. hibiscifolius , yield a red astringent juice, which, 
in the inspissated state, constitutes one of the kinds of Dragon’s-blood of the 
Western hemisphere, and is supposed to approximate to kino as an astringent. 
Dr. Zollickoffer (Loud. Med. Bot. Trans. May 28, 1824) adduces evidence to 
prove the powerfully astringent and slightly narcotic properties of Euphorbia 
hypericifolia , Linn., a plant of North America. That country also produces two 
other plants, Euphorbia Ipecacuanha and E. corollata , which find a place in the 
Secondary List of the United States Pharmacopoeia on account of their emetic 
properties, in which respect they are thought to approach Ipecacuanha, ootli in 
efficiency and safety. Then, tonics of various qualities are derived from this 
Order. Amongst the aromatic tonics we may mention Cascarilia, the bark of 
Croton Eluteria , Bennett, and Copalchi from C. pseudo- China. Malambo bark, 
apparently an aromatic tonic of no mean value, the botanical origin of which 
was, for a long period, involved in obscurity, has been traced to a tree of 
this’Natural Order, Croton Malambo of Karsten. Of astringent tonics we 
have apparently a worthy representative in the bark of Kirganellia elegans , 
Juss., a tree of the Mauritius, in which island, according to Bouton (Med. 
PL of Mauritius, p. 133), it enjoys a high and merited repute in dysenteric, 
and other bowel affections. Amongst the alterative tonics we may mention 
the wood of Buxus sempervirens , the common Box, which, on the Continent, 
has been employed as a substitute for guaiacum, and the leaves of Croton anti - 
syphiliticus , Mart., a plant of Brazil, which, as its specific name indicates, 
is an esteemed alterative in venereal affections. The officinal anthelmintic 
Kamela is derived from a tree of this Natural Order, Rottlera tinctoria , a native 
of India : and Martius has identified a favourite Abyssinian anthelmintic Atan- 
tash , with the root of Euphorbia depauperate s, Hochst. In India, Phyllanthus 
urinaria and Euphorbia Nivulia are held in much esteem by the natives as 
diuretics. In the Cape de Verde Islands, the leaves of Ricinus communis and 
Curcas purgans are employed extensively as a lactagogue and emmenagogue; 
and the facts adduced by Dr. MWilliam have, at any rate, with regard to the 
first of these, been substantiated by Dr. Routh and others in England. Lastly, 
the milky juice of several of the Euphorbias, and the expressed oil of the seeds 
of Croton Tiglium and Jatropha glandulifera , externally applied, are powerful 
rubifacients and counter-irritants. 
We cannot close this long list without mentioning a few other articles, not 
