Hura crepitans
Plant · Euphorbiaceae
Hura crepitans is a virulent Euphorbian whose seeds produce powerful emetic and purgative effects, and whose milky juice causes almost immediate blindness on contact with the eyes. The observed symptoms — burning throat, violent vomiting and purging, suffocation, and headache — arise primarily from ingestion of the seeds. It is related to and compared with Hura brasiliensis.
Key symptoms
- Burning in throat from ingestion of seeds
- Violent vomiting and purging
- Suffocation; headache
- Blindness from application of milky juice to the eye
Worse (aggravation)
- Eating seeds or ingesting milky juice
Sand-box. Monkey's dinner-bell. N. O. Euphorbiaceæ. Tincture of seeds.
Clinical
Blindness. Diarrhœa. Sore-throat. Vomiting.
Characteristics
"The curious, rounded, hard-shelled fruits are about the size of an orange, and have as many deep furrows as there are cells, each cell containing a single flattened seed. When the fruit is ripe and exposed to a dry atmosphere, it bursts with great force, accompanied by a loud, sharp crack like the report of a pistol, for which reason it is often called the Monkey's Dinner-bell. The seeds are emetic, in a green state violently purgative, but when dry, according to Lunan, they lose this property. An oil is extracted from them, and sometimes used as a purgative, about twenty drops of it being equal in action to a tablespoonful of castor oil. A venomous milky juice is abundant in all parts of the plant, and if it be applied to the eye causes almost immediate blindness." The Treasury of Botany, from which I quote the above, only recognises one species of Hura, H. crepitans. …
Classical texts are in the public domain. Educational reference only — not medical advice.
