RANUNCULACE. 2? 
The Indian name Nirbishi he explains incorrectly as Nir, the 
antidote to Bish, the poison* ; he describes five kinds :— 
‘‘1st—Khatai, black externally, purplish brown internally, 
scorpioid, knotted, tasting sweetish at first, afterwards very 
itter. 
2nd—Outside and inside brown, or yellowish brown. 
3rd—Onutside and inside black ; when rubbed down it has a 
purplish tinge, bitter. This and the second kind come from 
_ Thibet, Nipél, Morang and Rangpore. (These three kinds are 
or nirvishi is never applied to aconite by medical writers, but 
probably the roots of some kind of Aconite or Delphinium.) 
4th—Blackish, bitter, size of an olive, comes from the 
Deccan hills, probably the tuber ofa Curcuma. (The Gedwar 
figured in Clusius’ Exotica, p. 378, appears to be of this 
kind.) 
5th—Spanish, called Antila, escwies soft, very bitter (dvroupa 
: probably Aconitum Anthora).” 
Of these, the first kind is said to be most esteemed. It 
_ would appear, then, that the term Jadwar has at different 
_ times been applied to various tuberous roots supposed to have 
alexipharmic properties, and that in India it is now applied to 
the root of a Delphinium or Aconite, at present known to the 
Hindus as Nirbishi, a term which, like Jadwar, has at different 
times been applied to very different plants. Royle tells us 
that the best Nirbisi is brought down from Bissehar and 
Amritsar, and is fusiform, and resembles Bikh; when cut it is 
of a brownish colour and slightly bitter and wend Aitchison 
says that Jadwar-i-Khatai is the name in Leh for the root of 
an Aconite imported from Nipal via Lhassa. It is called in © 
the Punjaub Nirbisi, by Bhoteas in Leh Bonga, and by the 
Yarkandis Farfi ; it is poisonous, and is administered in cases 
of poisoning and in severe illness, such as cholera, and is 
carried as a talisman about the person. Ulasr Muharrir says _ 
pinnae 
* Nirvisha is a Sanskrit adjective meaning “ not poisonous,” and niryisha 
denotes 
peculiar grass, used as an antidote to certain poisons, 4 
women Linn.—({Dr. Rice.) 
