529 
THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY. 
the heat of the sun and forms a whitish-yellow solid, which 
drops off' in the month of September and forms the Euphor- 
bium of commerce. “The plants/’ says Mr. Jackson, pro¬ 
duce abundantly once only in four years ; but this fourth 
year’s produce is more than all Europe can consume.” The 
people who collect it, he adds, are obliged “ to tie a cloth 
over their mouth and nostrils to prevent the small dusty par¬ 
ticles from annoying them , as they produce incessant sneezing 
—Materia Medica. 
We have marked the above passages with italics in order 
to show the acrid nature of this resinous gum. 
Pelletier gives the following analysis of Euphorbium : 
Resin .... 608 
Wax .... 14'4 
Bussorin .... 2"0 
Malate of lime . . . 12 2 
Malate of potash . . . 1*8 
Water and loss . . .8*8 
100-0 
Braude’s analysis, which is more recent, is as follows, 
the difference probably arising to some extent from a differ¬ 
ence in sample: 
Resin ...... 
Wax ...... 
Caoutchouc ..... 
Malate of lime ..... 
Malate of potash..... 
Sulphates of potash and lime, and phosphate of lime 
Water and loss ..... 
Woody fibre ..... 
43-77 
14-93 
4-84 
18-82 
4- 90 
0-70 
6-44 
5- 60 
100-00 
No doubt the active principles reside to a considerable 
extent, if not wholly, in the resin, the leading and character¬ 
istic property of which, according to writers, is its intense 
acridity. 
Powerful as is this drug, it has no place in the c London 
Pharmacopoeia,’ though it is retained in that of Edinburgh, 
but we cannot find out that it is ever used. The f Veteri¬ 
nary Pharmacist ’ seems to ignore it altogether; not so, how¬ 
ever, the f Farrier,’ for our own experience teaches us that it 
is largely employed by the country druggist in making up 
“ resaits ” for these gentry, and there is too much reason to 
believe that powdered cantharides are much adulterated with 
euphorbium, and we think that unprincipled druggists may 
be found who use it largely in making blister plaster when 
cantharides should be wholly employed as the vesicant. 
