313. TIGLIUM.—CROTON SEED. The seed of Cro'ton tig'lium Linné, a
small tree indigenous to China, but extensively cultivated in
India. The fruit is a smooth capsule about the size of a large
hazelnut, 3-celled, each containing a single seed. The seeds are
from 12 to 15 mm. (1/2 to 3/5 in.) long, oval-oblong, resembling
castor-oil seeds in shape but somewhat larger, and quadrangular,
and with the caruncle usually absent; the testa is soft, dull
yellowish-brown, generally partially, but occasionally wholly,
rubbed off from the black tegmen by friction, giving the seeds a
mottled or nearly black appearance; albumen and embryo
yellowish-brown; odor feeble; taste acrid. It yields about 50 to
60 per cent. of an acrid fixed oil. 313a. OLEUM TIGLII.—CROTON
OIL. A rather viscid, pale yellowish to brown fixed oil, with a
peculiar, faint odor, and an exceedingly hot, acrid taste,
continuing in the mouth for several hours. It consists of the
glycerides of lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, formic,
acetic, crotinic, C4H6