MELIACEE. 325 
favourably of the leaves as a local application to. ulcers and 
certain obstinate skin diseases. Dr. Hové (1787) thus speaks 
of the Neem tree:—“ The Gentoos here worship this. tree, and 
their barren women invoke and perform the same ceremonies 
round it every morning as they usually do in the other 
- Pergunnahs about the Ficus religiosa. The leaves are of a 
sR ay Bae = 
powerful bitter, and they use a strong decoction with great 
success in intermittents,; and which I usually drank for my 
liver complaint and found myself much relieved by it.” He 
also notices the use of the gum by lying-in women.—(Horé, 
account of Mitampoor.) From recent experience detailed in 
the Pharmacopceia of India, it would appear that the opinion 
of the natives of India regarding the medicinal properties of 
the different parts of this tree is substantially correct. The 
bark is now official in the abovementioned Pharmacopoeia. 
Description.—Neem bark is coarsely fibrous; it varies 
much in thickness according to the age of thé tree from which 
it is taken. ‘The external surface is rough, fissured, and of a 
rusty grey colour; the inner surface yellowish and foliaceous. 
The taste is bitter and astringent. The leaves are simply pin- 
nate, leaflets 9 to 15, ovate, lanceolate, unequal sided, acumi~ 
nated, serrated, 1 to 8 by $to 14 inches, very bitter. The fruit 
_ when ripe is purple, l-celled, 1-seeded, 4 to 2 in. long; within 
the fleshy portion is a thin hard woody shell, which encloses _ 
an oily bitter kernel like a small filbert, greenish white, with a 
brown testa. The dried fruit resembles a small raisin, the _ 
inner portion of the pulp is adherent to the stone, and fibrous 
from the presence of very large liber cells. The expressed oil 
