

OCIMUM HASILICCM 221 



aad black. The Ocimum sanctum is held saored to Vishnu of the 

 Hindu trinity, and is reared in every Hindu hou3e where it is 

 daily watered and worshipped by all the members of the family. 

 The beads or rosaries used by orthodox natives for counting the 

 number of reoitations of their deity's name, are made of the 

 stems of this plant. 



The leaves arc regarded as an ti* catarrhal or expectorant and 

 are used in catarrh, cough and pain in the sides. The juice of the 

 leaves is given with the addition of black pepper in catarrhal 

 fever. 1 It is often used as an adjunct to metallic preparations, 

 which are rubbed with it into a thin paste and then licked up. 

 The leaves enter into the composition of some compound decoc- 

 tions for cough and affections o£ the chest. The following is an 

 example. Take of the loaves of Ocimum sanctum, gulancha, 

 ginger, root oE Glerodendron Siphonanthus, ( bhdrgi) and Solatium 

 Jacguinii ( kantakiri), ejual parts and prepare a decoction in the 

 usual way. 2 The dried leaves are used as snuff in oz.Tna. They 

 also enter into the composition of some compound medicines used 

 in this disease, as for example of an oil which is prepared with a 

 . paste of the leave3 of Ocinvim sanctum, roots of Solannm Jacqninii 

 ( kantakdri ), Baliospermum mon f anum (danti), Acorns Calamus 

 (vachdy, Morznga ptcvygospcrma (sigru), long pepper, black 

 pepper, and ginger. 3 





OCIMUM BASILICUM, Linn. Syn. Ocimum pihsum, Willd. 

 Sans. irx. 9 Varvara. Vern. Bdbui tulsL Beng. The seeds of thia 

 plant, called rchdn in the vernacular, are demulcent and 

 nourishing. Steeped in water they swell into a mucilaginous 

 jelly which is taken with the addition of sugar in dysentery, 

 gonorrhoea and cough. 



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