THE PURGING CROTON. 761
«fij —Is brown and soft; and lias a disagreeable odour, on account, doubtless,
which it retains. It is soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in ether and in water.„ * kaIil '* dissolve it by separating a whitish matter. It contributes to the purgative
4 “f croton oil.
of j| fjkum or Croton Oil (oleum tiglii seu oleum crotonis ).—This is the expressed oilpart f Seec ^ s ' It is imported from the East Indies, principally from Madras, but inC ( il 0 A 0 ® Bombay. As met with in English commerce, it is yellowish-brown or amber.Sll luhl • ant ' ^ las an U 1 , pi easallt odour and an acrid taste. It reddens litmus, and ise *u alcohol. It consists, according to Dr. Nimmo (op. supra cit.), of
An acrid matter. 4 5
Bland fixed oil. 5 5
Croton oil . 10 0
Th •
nj ( ] e a orid matter is extracted from croton oil by alcohol. The alcoholic solutionI'Wi • litnius ’ a,lt b when dropped into water, causes a cloudiness. Dr. Nirrimo sup-0 HVe 1 '' s acrid matter to be of a resinous nature ; but the investigations of Pelletier and[hik] nt °! , » an d llrandes, have shown that it is a mixture of crotonic acid and crotoniner "to T, ‘ sin •**]■ According to Mr. Twining (Dierbach , op. cit.) there are two kinds ofCo], 11 met with in commerce. One is dark yellow and thickish ; the other.is straw -differ • The first is the most energetic. These oils may, perhaps, be obtained frome,lt plants; the one from Croton Tiglium, the other from Croton Pavana.
r al] 1 lVsiOL0GICAL Effects. 1. Of the Seeds, (a.) On animals gene-—Croton seeds are powerful local irritants or acrids, causing inflam-(u. 1 . 011 in tliose living parts with which they are placed in contact.$to 3 ^Toxicol. Gen.,) found that three drachm slicing introduced into the( ] ( of a dog, and the oesophagus tied to prevent vomiting, caused1 * n three hours ; and, on examination of the body, the alimentarybio " as found to be in a state of inflammation. In another experi-’ a ( i rac hm caused death under the same circumstances. A drachm,A (]’ a Pphed to the cellular tissue of the thigh, was equally fatal.t 0 ,. ( ’ Se of from twenty to thirty grains of the powder of the kernel givenr (!c tle horse causes, in six or eight hours, profuse watery stools, and isof ■ C ’ rriri >ended by some veterinarians as a purgative ; but the uncertaintyofr: S Operation, and the griping and debility which it occasions, arejJ 0c h°ns to its use (Youatt, the Horse , in Libr. of Useful Knowledge ).of IJ^herg (Wibmer, Arzneim. ii. Gifte, Bd. ii. S. 222) found that twentyf le seeds killed a horse, by causing gastro-enteritis. The pidse wassmall, and soft. ‘
Vn man - —1° the human subject, a grain of the croton seed will
v 0 j . en tly produce full purgation. Mr. Marshall (Ainshe, Mat. Indica,inP- 104) says tliat this quantity, made into two pills, is about equal°Pcr°"- er to la h' a drachm of jalap, or to six grains of calomel. TheHo, , a hon, he adds, is attended with much rumbling of the bowels ; theS are invariably watery and copious. Dr. White recommends thet}j' ls 1° be torrefied, and deprived of their seed-coats, before employingc uu n Obid.) Dr. Wallich informed me that the labourers in the Cal-4 I) a botanic Garden were in the habit of taking one of these seeds as•jPgative, but that on one occasion this dose proved fatal.lj ee le s eed-coats, the embryo, and the albumen, have each in their turn\v],: '‘ e clared to be the seat of the acrid principle : I believe the remarksta sto s ^ la H have to make with respect to the seat of the acridity ofIt r ' 01 ^ ^ ee ds, will apply equally well to that of croton seeds.ar e v '°uld be interesting to know whether the seeds of Croton Pavana^'Pudly active with those of Croton Tiglium ; and, also, whether thes of both species are found in commerce.