216 MALVACEZ. 
by egg-shaped, green capsules, containing numerous brown 
seeds having an average weight of 4-5th of a grain, and a 
quantity of fine silky cotton. Hindu and Mahometan writers 
state that the root of the young tree (mzsla-semul), when about 
as large as a carrot, has restorative, astringent and alterative 
properties ;. powdered and mixed with sugar, ghi and the juice 
of the fresh root, it is made into a pdk or confection which has 
a reputation as an aphrodisiac, and as a restorative im phthisis 
and other wasting diseases. In some parts of India the root 
of the white-silk cotton tree (Eriodendron anfractuosum) 18° 
preferred for this purpose. This tree is the Lanifera arbor of 
Clusius, the pods of which were first brought to Holland 
about the end of the 16th century; its cotton is the Capock 
fibre of the Dutch, and the tree, like the Bombax, yields ® 
dark-coloured opaque gum, insoluble in water; which is used 
as an astringent in bowel complaints. The natives regard 
E. anfractuosum as a variety of the Bombax, and call it Sveta- 
sflmali or “white Sétmali” in Sanskrit. In Hindi it is Safed- 
setaul,in Marathi Péndhra-saur, in Guzerati Dolo-shemalo, &e.,- 
all names which have a similar meaning. In Madras the young 
fruits are dried and used as a demulcent and astringent. 03 
gum of the Bombax is very astringent, and is used by both 
Hindus and Mahometans in diarrhoea, dysentery, and meno!” 
rhagia in doses of from 40—50 grains for an adult. Sélmalt 
veshta or Mocha-ras (juice of mocha) only exudes from 
portions of the bark which have been injured by decay °F 
insects ; ieisions in the healthy bark produce nothing. 
Description.—When first exuded it is a whitish fango"s 
mass, which gradually turns red, and finally dries into prittle 
mahogany-coloured tears. The larger tears are hollow in the 
_ centre, the cavity being produced during the gradual drying 
the jelly-like mass which first exudes. Dry Mocha-ras when 
So gees up, and resumes very much the ae 
ance of the fresh exudation. ; tringe? 
ee The taste is purely as 
| Mocha-ras is not ® normal juice, but the product of a diseased 
. action, which consists in a proliferation of the parenchyme 
