PURGATIVE ACTION OF CERTAIN EUPHORBIACEOUS SEEDS. 
559 
a burning sensation in the bowels, attended with nausea 
Yon mav also remember, which is perhaps more to the point, the serious anc 
wellnighfatal effects induced by the ingestion of twenty of these seeds in r. 
Marrptt’s case In juxtaposition with these statements I will ask you to co 
“note made 3 on the authority of our distinguished Indian botanist, Dr 
\l Wight, to the effect that he has repeatedly eaten considerable numbers m 
these seeds care havinq been taken previously to remove the cotyledon m each, 
an? that afterT doing lie never experienced the slightest iDoanveXretovS 
hind i The innocuous nature and pleasant taste of these seeds, after theremova 
of the cotylM according to'popular tradition, first brought to noLceby 
„ Dr Watt hence to the present day, they are popularly known m Madras 
bv the name of Jack Spratt nuts ! How can we reconcile these opposed state- 
meiits excepting by the hypothesis that the acridity of the seeds resides in the 
cotyledon ’ T h | l in accordance with the experience of Dr. Bennett cited 
above, who remarks, that while the albumen seems innocuous, the embryo 
^AinsUeTMat. Ind. vol. ii. p. 46) is of opinion that the chief seat of acridity 
in these seeds and in croton seeds likewise, is the investing membrane, or end 
carl I am unaware of any recorded facts which tend to support or to disprove 
thif idea how for it may partake of the acridity of the embryo, I know not 
Now turn to another seed, that of Sura «■<*»<««,H a ?Xn (?p cTTiforms 
properties of which we but just now notice , y ' i v ,iiit <.f consiantlv carry- 
L JL t p e p new an American captam who was in the habit ot constantly ca y 
al-irmt with him some of these kernels, with the cotyledon carefully removed, 
of these heTook fou or five in the morning to relieve the bowels, which 
and ot these nerooK iou 0 r griping. This statement receives 
thev did without causing sickness, pai , & h & mt- nf Paris 
snnnort from some experiments with these seeds made by M. Thierry, ot 1 aris, 
from which he° *aws the conclusion that the cotyledon is the sole seat of the 
acTd emetic properties of the seed. (See Herat et De Lens, Diet. Mat. Med. 
A 'kT':;:hi, at the seeds of Omphalea triandra, the Hog-nut of Jamaica, 
b?t a?ds thafto those who have eaten them without the precaution of removing 
the cotyledon they prove 1 nc i vou mus t admit that they possess much 
fofer whTh haTe the cotyledon is the chief 
t01 • iuin thp^p and nrobably in all euphorbiaceous seeds. 
Se La°stlv GeSlemen one wold as terthe antidotal powers of fresh lime or lemon- 
Lastly, Lentiemen, one seec j s . Its use I first learnt from the 
juice m p—g j ? k _B urm ah, but be that as it may, I have 
Burmese, or from Mr Viasons wori ^ of ofcherg (where lt had 
known m a n ycasesb^ ic h / which P excess i ve action of croton seeds has been 
been used by 1 y V. v f ree use 0 f ]j m e juice. In one case ot 
speedily and completely re Fr J nch Physic Nut (Cureas multifida), and in 
poisoning y ^ tk e f res h root of Manihot utilissima (a Euphorbia- 
three this remedy, and although stimulants were 
ceous pla ) to combat the symptoms of collapse, yet itTas m 
resorted to at the th relief 0 f symptoms and eventual recovery 
each case appeared to me, ^“ e ^ yen w y itll P no unsparing hand. Other 
