EUPHORBIUM.

773

?fti^ e - nCe i men * *^ ie Christian sera - Pliny says that Juba called it

physician, Euphorbns; and that he wrote a volume concerning

It, • . t

thj s nic .h was extant in Pliny’s time. Salmasius , however, states thatre * ln is mentioned by Meleager the poet, who lived some time

Juba.

w ° Ta ny. Gen. Char .— Flowers collected in monoecious heads, sur-"hi 4 hy an involucrum, consisting of one leaf with five divisions,c1 have externally five glands alternating with them. Males naked,Vernas, articulated with their pedicle, surrounding the female,8tig * s hi the centre. Females naked, solitary. Ovarium stalked,of pi' 1 ' three, forked. Fruit hanging out of the involucrum, consistingoq 6 ree cells, bursting at the back with elasticity, and each containing^ suspended seed (Lindley).

' Char.—B ranches with four, rarely five angles, armed with double,S“t, spreading, dark, shining spines.

Th

hi« m es J? specific characters are taken from the branches found mixed with the euphor-Co, nmerce. They agree with the description and figure of Tithymalns aizoideshie £ *** seu Euphorbia canariensis of Plukenet ( Almagest. Bot. vol. ii. p. 370). Promty i ts ' C(ln vriensis of Willdenowof and some other botanists, this plant is distinguishedWcc 0!/ Slra 'fdit spines. The E. officinarum has many angles: the Dergmuse of Jackson°f Morocco, 3rd ed. p. 134) has many scolloped angles. Euphorbia anti -kitl) pr 162) has been said to yield euphorbium, but the statement is denied byV», amilt on (Trans, of the Linn. Soc. vol. xiv.) and Royle (Bot. of the HimalayanP- 328).

—Africa , in the neighbourhood of Mogadore ?lo| V Tka ction. —Euphorbium is thus procured. The inhabitants of the

... Cl rpm nn — — r ,1. — t .1 _ ..__— .— .. 1. . . . —. ... ... n t.vn « /.lmc 41,

PU re gions of the Atlas range make incisions in the branches of thec*c ' an< ^ ^ 10m these a milky juice exudes, which is so acrid that itb v t ^ nates the fingers when applied to them. This exuded juice hardensii, , e heat of the sun, and forms a whitish yellow solid, which drops ofF“ p,. le month of September, and forms the euphorbium of commerce.%]. e plants,” says Mr. Jackson (op. cit.), “produce abundantly once]Jnj 111 four years; but this fourth year’s produce is more than all“ ( (j °l )e can consume.” The people who collect it, he adds, are obligedpnro l e a cloth over their mouth and nostrils to prevent the small dustypp es from annoying them, as they produce incessant sneezing.”^abl° PERTIES ‘—Euphorbium consists of irregular, yellowish, slightly- e Ears, usually pierced with one or two holes, united at the base,aluj 111 w hich we find the remains of a double aculeus. These tears are;ts st odourless; but their dust, applied to the olfactory membrane, actsa.c r [ ( i Powerful sternutatory. Their taste is at first slight, afterwards\y, ari( l burning.

O* Seated, euphorbium melts, swells up imperfectly, evolves antviijj f Sonic what like that of benzoic acid vapour, takes fire, and bumsSol a P a E flame- Alcohol, ether, and oil of turpentine, are its bestCn tS ’ Wa Er dissolves only a small portion of it.

. iri ’°siTioN.—Euphorbium has been the subject of several analyses ;" ’ in 1800, by Laudet (Gmelin, Handb. d. Chem.); in 1809, by

tv. 5 ^ 0 t (Ann. Chim. lxviii. 44); in 1818, by Pelletier (Bull. dePharm.

> a nd by Miihlmann (Gmelin, op. cit.) ; in 1819, by BrandesTr t ’ an d more recently' by l)rs. Buchner and llerbcrger (Cliristison,• °n Poisotis).