753
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
who
l necessary iFig. 160.
Other non officinal Piperacem.
The Piper Betle is extensively used by the Malays and other nations of the Ef*-10 consl<Jer u as a necessary of life. The mode of taking it in Sumatra cons'f*
simply in spreading on the sirih (the leaf of. 1 *'®Piper Betle) a small quantity of chunam (<] ll Jf alime prepared from calcined shells), andit up with a slice of pinang (Areca nut) (*'pp. 87 & 616). From the mastication theproceeds a juice which tinges the saliva o'bright red, and which the leaf and nut, witu 0 ”the lime, will not yield. This hue being WJ®}
:steen>®“
rarte, a
municated to the mouth and lips, is esiornamental, and an agreeable flavour is inip a - ^to the breath. The jujce is usually, but not ])0 t
i bo
ways, swallowed. "To persons who arehabituated to this composition it causes gidd'" e '*astringes and excoriates the mouth and frue 'and deadens for a time the faculty of taste. 1, , , dividuals, when toothless, have the ingredie'
previously reduced to a paste that they may dissolve without further efFort (Ma»d« B ’Hist, of Sumatra , 3 rd cd. p. 281).
Piper Betle.
Order 27. Eupiiorbia'ce.e, Juss .— Tiie Euphor'bium Tribe-
. th e
Essential Character. —Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Calyx monosepalo uS ’j ()11 jsegments definite, sometimes none, very often increased on the inside by va jjj.squamiform or glandular appendages. Stamens indefinite, or generally defini^’^ditinct [or monadelphous] ; sometimes inserted into the centre of the flower, be' ^the rudiments of the pistil. Anthers two-celled ; the cells sometimes distinct, ^ t ocing longitudinally on the outer side. Ovary superior, sessile, or stipitate, ' t j.three or many-celled; the cells arranged in a circle around the central P a „e*-Ovules solitary or in pairs; suspended from the inner angle beneath th e j eStyles as many as the cells; either distinct, or united, or none. Stigmas stuff hi<*compound or many-lobed. Capsule of two to three distinct bivalved cells>often hurst elastically. Seeds solitary or twin, with an arillus, and attachedto the central placenta. Embryo surrounded by a fleshy albumen : cotyledo" 3 ^^,-radicle superior .—Herbs or shrubs generally lactescent. Leaves mostly stipula'^l^t
nate, or rarely opposite. | , v jtbFic. 162. axillary or terminal, usU „/larg e
Fig. 161.
s« c '
bracts; bracts in some cases,and involucriform ( Bot■ G al ’’Some of the Euphorbiacewculent (as Euphorbia and E. antiquorum, fiff s - rese Di'and have a considerableblance to Cacteacece, f roffl jjsti"'they may in general be cr jilguished by the presence of 3 B uSmilky juice. However, the » ,
Euphorbia antiquorum.
i.u.nj juiuc. iiuirc... Pact 63 '
Mammilaria (of the familycete) possesses a milky j'" c f’ a( linffProperties.—A cridity is tlief®. s fa-quality of the plants of '' eSS »
.. . rr, mily. Some species also p° r jd
narcotic property. The acridity resides in the milky juice. In some plants the » s ,.principle is volatile, as in Hippomane Mancinella and Croton Tiglium: i'» [ be , a r dmentioned species it is of an acid nature. Some poisonous species, by roa s ^ II,p ’' fitdeprived of this volatile principle, and thereby become esculent. In some cas®*aend principle is fixed, as in the substance called, in the shops, “ gum” euphort>' uSome euphorbiaceous plants are devoid of acridity, or possess it in a very slig n t |,egree only. Von Buch (Nees and Ebermaier ,Med. Pharm. Bot. Bd. i. S. 355) saV ’ t |,ebranches of Euphorbia balsamifera contain a mild sweet juice, which is eaten