768

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

trunk as thick as a man’s body, and of the height of three men. 1{Observ. lib. i. cap. 18) also tells us that in Crete it endures for ^years, and requires the use of ladders to mount it. Ray {Hist. I"vol. i. p. 166) found it in Sicily as large as our common alder trees, u' 0 ° ^and long-lived ; but it has been a question with botanists whether ttR-arborescent and other kinds are mere varieties of, or distinct sp° Lfrom, the ordinary Ricinus communis.

The followin'; (? varieties or distinct species) are enumerated t>y Nees and Eb ern !*

( Handb. d. Med. Pharm. Botan.) as common in gardens, and as distinguished P rl erpally by the colour and pruinose condition of the stem—characters which, ho" 1uncertain in other cases, appear here to be constant. rp|,e

Ricinus africanus (Willd.)—Stem not pruinose, green, or on one side reddish. jfruit-racemes abbreviated, the fruit-stalk longer than the capsule. Seeds “^'’.ralon one side, marbled gray and yellowish-brown. [Arborescent. Cultivated in °(Hamilton, Linn. Trans, vol. xiv.)]. <rr£ . e n,

Ricinus macrophyllus (H. Berol.)—Nearly allied to the foregoing: stem quite „not pruinose. Fruit racemes elongated, fruit-stalk shorter than the fruit.

Ricinus leucocarpus (H. Berol.)—Stem pale green, white pruinose. Fruit-stalong as the fruit. The unripe fruit and prickles almost quite white. ^ r ]y

Ricinus lividus (Willd.)—Stem, petiole, and midrib, purple red, not pruinose. *allied to R. africanus, and, like this, more woody and perennial. [Arborescent,tivated in Bengal (Hamilton)].

Ricinus viridis (Willd.)—Stem pale green, blue pruinose, by which it i*guished from R. macrophyllus. Seeds somewhat smaller, more oval, marked 'white and fine brown. [Herbaceous . Cultivated in Bengal (Hamilton)].

• is)

Description. — Castor seeds (semina ricini, scu sem. cataputiee rndJ oT ^arc oval, somewhat compressed, about four lines long, three linesand a line and a half thick: externally, they are pale gray, but n i;U pwith yellowisli-brown spots and stripes. The seed-coats consist, ac° ^ing to Bischoff {Handb. d. Bot. Term. pp. 508, 510, and 512,ftg. 1875), of a smooth external coat {epidermis seminalis). 2 dly, a . _form, hard testa, consisting of two layers, an external, thick, and <-brown one, and an internal one, thinner and paler. 3rdly, a Pidt , s0nuclei or membrana interna. The fleshy tumid cicatricula stomutis .termed strophiola) is very evident at the upper end of the seed; bt‘ n °it is the small hilum, from which passes downwards the longh 1111 j graphe. (Bischoff, Ibid. p. 515, &c. tab. xli. fig. 747). The chat a " a Ycolourless {Ibid. p. 518, tab. xliii. fig.1901). The nucleus of the seed c ^ [gsists of oily albumen, and an embryo, whose cotyledons are membra 11or foliaceous. . j s

Composition. —The only analysis of these seeds, as yet publish 01 >that of Geiger {Handb. d. Pharm. Bd. ii. S. 1671). The followinghis results:—

a. Seed coats

{

Tasteless resin and extractive

Brown gum.

Ligneous fibre.

1 91 ■)1-91 >20 00 )

•23

n

b. Nucleus of the seeds

Fatty oil.

4619

Gum.

2 40

V 69 09

Caseum (albumen) .

. 050

Ligneous fibre with starch? (hardened]albumen?). J

. 20 00

f

y09

I00' ()0

Loss (moisture)