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SESAMUM INDICUM. .217 



The leaves are described as cooling and useful in jaundice and 



anasarca. They are * used as a pot herb. The root is considered 

 cooling, bitter, tonic and diuretic, and is u?ed in rheumatism, 

 urinary affections and anasarca. The ashes of the plant are also 

 used as a diuretic in dropsy. 1 



ANDROGR APHIS PANICULATA, Nees. This bitter shrub 



is well-kftaown in Bengal under the name of Jcdlmeg and is the 

 principal ingredient of a domestic medicine for infants oalled Mui. 

 There is some doubt regarding its Sanskrit name. A plant oalled 

 yavatiktd with synonyms of mohdtzktd, sanlthini, etc., is said by 

 some to mean this shrub bub the term mohdtiktd when ocouring in 

 Sanskrit prescriptions is usually interpreted as Melia sempervtrrvs, 

 m Stv. and yavatikta has not been noted by me as having occurred in 

 any prescription, so that I am inclined to think Andrographis 

 paniculata was not used in Sanskrit medicine. The dlui above 

 referred to is made of the expressed juice of the leaves with the 

 addition of powdered cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon etc., and is 

 given to infants for the relief of griping, irregular stools and 



loss of appetite. 



nat. order: sesames. 



SESAMITM INDICUM, Linn. 



Sans. f^T, Tila, #^qf5f, SncJiaphah. Vem. Til, Beng. and Hind. 



' Tnis plant is extensively cultivated in India for the sake of 

 the seeds and their expressed oil, both of which articles are in 

 great demand for various economic, religious and medicinal 

 purposes. The word taila, the eanskrit for oil, is derived from 



I 



tila ; it would therefore seem, that sesamum oil, was one of the 

 first, if nob the first oil manufactured from oil- seeds by the 

 ancient Hindus. The Bhavaprakasa describes three varieties of 

 HI seeds, namely, black, white and red. Of these the black is 

 regarded as the best suited for medicinal use. It yields also 



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