202 | | MALVACEA. 
History, Uses, &c.—A plant called Altheea is men- 
tioned by Dioscorides,* and was held in great esteem by the 
Greeks and Latins+ on account of its healing ' properties. 
Theophrastus says of Althwea, kai hv of pev ddOaiay, ’exeivor de padayny 
dypiay xahovet. Some consider the althwa of Theophrastus to 
have been Lavatera arborea (the tree mallow), but as it is — 
described as having yellow flowers (ix., 19,) this cannot be 
correct. Perhaps Abutilon Avicenne, Géartn., was the plant. 
The Mahometans describe Khairu as a suppurative and emol- 
lient ; they use the leaves as a poultice and for fomentations ; 
mixed with oil the leaves and flowers are applied to burns and 
parts bitten by venomous reptiles. The root boiled with sugar 
is prescribed in coughs and irritable conditions of the intes- 
tines and bladder. The decoction is also used as an emollient 
enema, and in making ointments ; in short, with the Mahome- 
tans it is as important an article of the Materia Medica as with 
the French and other Continental nations in Europe. Althea 
is demuleent and emollient; its action is mechanical, inasmuch 
as it forms a soft smooth covering to the inflamed or irritated 
parts with which it comesin contact and thus protects them from 
friction, and allows the process of repair to go on undisturbed. ~ 
i Description.—The different parts of the plant used in 
India are imported from Persia. The flowers have by some 
been attributed to A. rosea, but the earpels which may be 
found mixed with them, have not the membranaceous margin 
of that plant, and the exterior calyx has from 8 to 9 divisions 
instead of 6. The calyx is thick, and covered with simple 
hairs, very closely set, and arranged in star-like tufts; the 
flower has five petals, which in the dry article are bluish gree® 
at the base, the blades being purple ; both calyx and flowers 
are mucilaginous. The root appears to be the same as the 
European article, but it is not decorticated, nor is it so plump 
and free from fibre. ‘The carpels are large and pubescent, and — 
» are known as Tukm-i-khitm{. 
* Dios. iii., 154, 
t Pliny 20, 84, 
PES ES XS IET EDS eee eee ee 
‘fen o-oo ee 
