^'J8 UMBELLlFERiE. 



natives of Java and of the Coromandel coast. In 1852, Boileau, a 

 French phj^sician of Mauritius, pointed out its virtues in the treatment 

 of leprosy/ for which disease it was largely tried in the hospitals of 

 Madras by Hunter^ in 1855. It has since been admitted to a place in 

 the Pliarmacopma of India. 



Description^ — The peduncles and petioles are fasciculed; the latter 

 are frequently 2|- inches long; the peduncles are shorter and bear a 3- 

 or 4-flowered simple umbel with very short rays. The leaves are reni- 

 form, crenate, ^ L I I L.. 1„ 



7x \jkj ^ iinjiiuw 111 luiiL^esu uiaiiiebtjr. 7 



when young somewhat hairy on the under side. The fruit is laterally 



compressed, orbicular, acute on the back ; the mericarps reticulatei 



sometimes a little hairy, with 8 to 5 curved ribs; they are devoid of 



vitta3. The main root is an inch or two long, but roots are also thrown 



out by the procumbent stem. 



When fresh, the herb is said to be aromatic and of a disagreeable 



bitter and pungent taste ; but these qxialities appear to be lost in 

 drying. 



r 



Chemical Composition— An analysis of hyclrocotyle has been made 

 by Ldpiue, a pharmacien of Pondicherry/ who found it to yield a some- 

 what peculiar body which he called Vellarin, from ValalraiA^ Tamil 

 name of the plant, and regarded as its active principle. Vellcarin, wmcn 

 IS said to be obtainable from the dry plant to the extent of 0-8 to I'O 

 per cent, is an oilj^^ non-volatile liquid with the smell and taste of fresj 

 hydrocotyle, soluble in spirit of wine, ether, caustic ammonia, and 

 partially also in hydrochloric acid. These singular properties do not 

 enable us to rank vellarin in any well-characterized class of orgamc 

 compounds. 



By exhausting 3 ounces of the dried herb with rectified spirit, we 

 did not obtain anything like vellarin, but simply a green extract almosi 

 entirely soluble in warm water, and containing chiefly tannic ficid,^^nic 

 produced an abundant green precipitate wdth salts of iron. With causu 

 potash, neither the herb nor its extract evolved any nauseous odour. 

 The dried plant afforded Ldpine 13 per cent, of ash. 



Uses— As an alterative tonic, hydrocotyle is allowed to be of some 

 utility, but the power claimed for it by Boileau of curing lepros) . 

 generally denied. Dorvaulf^ regards it as belonging to the class ^^ 

 narcotico-acrid poisons such as hemlock, but we see no evitenc ^^ 

 warrant such an opinion. Besides being administered internally, 

 sometimes locally applied in the form of a poultice. Boileau sa}S 

 the entire plant is preferable to the leaves alone." 



Substitutes (?)—//. TotmidifoUa Eoxb., another species coin"'^^^.^^ 

 India, may be known from H. asiaiica by having 10 or more nt. 

 m an umbel and much .smaller fruits. The European i^- ^'*^^^!'' ^ ^y 

 easily distinguishable from the allied tropical species just J^^^J"^ ' 'i 

 having_ its leaves orbicular and peltate (not reniform), is said to p 

 deleterious properties. 



-^"i'.J^"' ^^«^-:i^^""<« of MaurUlus, ^rOj^ci>ie(\S':2)m. .,,.,^4 that the 



•> iV";~^^-n "It 13 probably by o^?f\-" p},am<i- 



-Medical RcporU, Madras, 1855. 35G. leaves cdone nre ordered m t"^ 



Drawn up from Indian specimens. couteia of Tndia. 

 *Juum. de Pharm. xxviii. (1855) 47. 



