34 
Crescit in alpibus Himalayæ inferioris, Napalensis et Kamounensis, vigens fructificansque sub pluviis. Ipse inveni ad 
cacumen montis Sheopore in Napalia. In Napalia, Herb. Hamilt. In Anga, Carnata, Napalia et Camrupa, Ejusd. Catal. 
Herga erecta, a basi usque paniculato-ramosa et decussata, 2- 3- quin 4-pedalis, omnibus partibus glabra, ne amaro. 
Ranix lignosa, perennis, ramosa et fibrillosa. Caurs cylindricus, pennam cygneam ad digitam minimum sem. pallide errugineus, 
vel cinerascens. Rami oppositi, inferiores crassi, cylindrici, superiores acute tetraigonij graciles, mp LEREDE OLIA mp set 
patentia, sessilia, lanceolata, attenuato-acuta, integerrima, in juniore planta aliquandd obeoletà crenulata, basi rotun a. me 
plexantia, utrinque glaberrima, saturatd viridia, suprå nitidula, subtüs 5-nervia, nervis intermediis ad apicem usgue pr US, extimis 
utrinque abbreviatis, 2—3-pollicaria ; inferiora remota, superiora sppødstmatiare, magis attenuata, subacuminata ; Jan alia angustiora, 
semipollicaria. FLORES parvi, lutei, patentissimi, glabri, inodori, pedicellati, per totam ferð ramorum et ramulorum longitudinem, ex axillis 
foliorum floralium in fasciculis oppositis remotiusculis, bis trifidis, vel subracemulosis collect, paniculam exhibentes amplam, patentem, 
pyramidato-decussatam, attenuatam. Pepuncurr PEpicELLIque breves et teneri, tetragoni. Bracrræ parvæ, opposite, Stars, inferiores 
sensim in folia floralia abientia. CaLyx patentissimus, partitus in lacinias 4 lanceolatas, kouran ConoLra rotata, nuda, calyce vix lóngiöt'; 
laciniæ planæ, ovatæ, acutæ. Sramna 4, patentiuscula ; filamenta filiformia ; yned lineares, erectæ. haca among, læve ; styli 
duo paralleli; stigmata convexiuscula. ` CapsuLa calyce et corolla persistentibus involuta, ovata, pallidè ferruginea, rostrato-bicornis. 
SEMINA valdè numerosa, minuta, ovalia, rugosula, ferruginea. 
The whole of the dried herb of this plant, chiefly the stem and branches, is in general use among the natives of 
Hindustan and the mountainous countries bordering on it to the north. It is called in Sanscrit Chiråta or Chiratatikta, 
and in the Bengali and Hindustani languages Chireta or Chirayta. A very able account of this celebrated drug was 
given to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta four and twenty years ago, by my late valued friend Dr. Fleming, F.R.S., 
President of the Medical Board in Bengal, in his Catalogue of Indian Medicinal Plants and Drugs, and inserted in 
the 11th volume of the Asiatic Researches; also printed separately at Calcutta in 1810. As I have reason to believe 
that the Chireta contains a larger proportion and greater intensity of the bitter principle than any other species of 
Gentian, and that the introduction of this drug into the English Pharmacopæia would be attended with much public 
benefit, I shall add an extract from Dr. Fleming's paper relating to this subject. Many of the European inhabitants of 
India can bear witness with me to the excellence of the Chireta as a stomachic ; and if to this circumstance is added 
the extreme simplicity as well as cheapness of the remedy, I am not saying too much, perhaps, if I pronounce it 
one of the most valuable medicines which the materia medica of Hindustan possesses. My own experience 
has convinced me, however, that the right mode of preparing it has not always been adopted, and that, in conse- 
quence, much of the benefit, which its proper exhibition rarely fails to produce, has been lost. A weak infusion, made 
with cold spring or rain water, should be used in small quantities, repeated several times daily for some weeks, when 
it may advantageously be left off for a short time, and then resumed again. The practice of administering decoctions 
or infusions made with 404 water, especially in large quantities, I have myself found objectionable in more respects 
than one ; especially on account of the headache and sensation of redundant bile in the stomach, which are frequently 
the consequences. I may even venture to adduce, as a favourable testimony of the innocence of this drug, that I 
have known young children, my own among others, prefer chewing a piece of it, to anything sweet. 
I have mentioned already that the plant is a native of the lower alps of the Himalaya, both of Nipal and Kamoun ; 
and that I found it on the top of Sheopur, in flower and fruit during the rainy season. The plant might therefore 
he reasonably expected to thrive well in various parts of this kingdom, where I hope to live to see it acclimated and 
extensively cultivated. 
Mr. Richard Battley having at my request politely undertaken the analysis of the drug at his Pharmaceutical Labo- 
ratory in Moorfields, I here insert the general results of his experiments, offering that gentleman my best thanks for 
all the interesting details with which he has furnished me. It is proper to observe, that although the drug which I 
supplied was of the very best and finest description, yet an allowance ought to be made for its probable age, and for 
the effects of a long exposure to the vicissitudes of the climate of India. “The Chireta contains, 1, a free acid; 
2, a very bitter extractive and resinous matter, and a large proportion of gum; 3, muriate and sulphate of potash 
and lime. By comparing the results of the experiments with those previously made on the Gentiana lutea, it appears 
that the extractive matter exists in larger proportion, and contains more gum in the latter than in G. Chireta, and 
that spirituous extracts of (7. Chireta are more aromatic than those of (7. /utea.” 
I am indebted to the Honourable East India Company for permission to use Dr. Roxburgh’s drawing of the plant, 
from which the plate has been engraved ; and the description which I have given is taken partly from the MSS. 
of that eminent botanist, and partly from my own notes, written when I had the growing plant before me. 
«The dried herb is to be met with in every bazaar of Hindustan, being a medicine in the highest repute with 
both the Hindu and European practitioners. It possesses all the stomachic, tonic, febrifuge, and antarthritic 
virtues which are ascribed to the Gentiana lutea, and in a greater degree than they are generally found in that root 
in the state in which it comes to us from Europe. It may therefore on every occasion be advantageously substituted 
for it. The efficacy of the Chirayita when combined with the Ceranja nut* in curing intermittents has been already 
* Guilandina Bonduccella, Linn. 
