^ptemberMg?'}     The  Apocynacece  in  Materia  Medica.  453 
Nerium  salicinum  Forsk,  of  Arabia.  If  we  add  that  Avicenna 
wrote  of  a  "  tree  of  India  poisonous  and  latex  bearing,  of  which  the 
thickened  juice  seems  like  Turbith,"  and  in  which  we  may  possibly 
recognize  (?)  the  Cerbera  Manghas,  we  have  nearly  all  the  knowl- 
edge that  the  ancients  possessed  upon  the  Apocynaceae. 
The  first  American  Apocynaceae  described  appears  to  be  the 
Thevetia  Ahouai,  of  which  Thevet  wrote  in  1558.  In  India, 
Garcia  AB.  Horto  pointed  out  Ophioxylon  serpentium  and  the 
Carissa  Carandas ;  D'Acosta  the  Cerbera  Manghas,  and,  in  Europe, 
Lobel  described  the  Apocynum  Venetium.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  Rheede  and  Rumphius  make  known  the  numer- 
ous Apocynaceae  of  India,  while  Plukenet,  Plumier,  etc.,  multiply  the 
number  of  American  species.  During  the  whole  of  the  last  cen- 
tury the  voyages  of  the  naturalists  accumulated  the  materials  that 
Linne  and  his  successors  arranged.  Already,  Adanson,  then  A.  L. 
De  Jussieu,  had  reunited  in  one  natural  group  the  Apocynaceae  and 
the  Asclepidaceae.  Finally,  Robert  Brown,  at  the  commencement 
of  this  century,  gave  to  the  Apocynaceae  the  limits  generally  ac- 
cepted to  this  day.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  history  of  those 
which  are  of  medical  interest  is  entirely  recent. 
Geographic  Distribution. — Nearly  all  the  Apocynaceae  are  inter- 
tropical, and  for  the  most  part  in  the  hottest  regions  ;*and  beyond 
the  tropics  they  diminish  abruptly  and  are  represented  by  only  a 
few  species :  India,  Malaysia,  tropical  America,  the  Antilles, 
Equatorial  Africa,  Madagascar,  the  Mascarene  Islands,  all  offer 
numerous  species.  Australia  and  Oceanica  contain  less.  M.  F.  von 
Mueller  enumerates  fifty  in  Australia.  In  Europe,  in  Asia  (except 
the  regions  indicated),  and  in  North  America,  are  very  few.  The  area 
of  distribution  is  very  variable  for  the  same  species;  many  species  are 
localized  in  one  point  of  the  globe  ;  many  others,  all  neighbors,  are 
common  to  all  the  tropical  regions. 
Uses  and  Properties. — In  certain  Apocynaceae,  the  magnificent 
flowers  are  used  in  perfumery,  especially  in  India.  The  hot-houses 
of  Europe  contain  quite  a  number,  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of 
their  flowers  or  of  their  foliage.  But  the  point  of  greatest  interest 
here  is  the  study  of  the  medical  properties  of  the  group.  A  singular 
contrast  is  offered  by  the  presence  of  inoffensive  vegetables  or  com- 
estibles in  the  midst  of  terrible  poisons.  Certain  fruits  of  the  Apo- 
cynaceae often  may  be  eaten  with  impunity,  and  the  latex,  ordinarily 
