MELIACEZ. 331 
raz Taghak, both corruptions of T4k, its proper Persian name. 
It is a native of the sub-Himalayan tracts, and is called in Sans- 
_ krit Mahanfmba and-Himadruma. ‘The Hindus do not appear 
to have paid much attention to it, but it has been described by 
Ibn Sina in his second book under the name of Azaddarakht, 
and has long been used by the Arabs and Persians, who con- 
sider it to be hot and dry, and to have deobstruent, resolvent, 
and alexipharmic properties. The flowers and leaves are 
applied as a poultice to relieve nervous headaches. The juice 
of the leaves administered internally is said to be anthelmintic, 
antilithic, diuretic, and emmenagogue, and is thought to 
resolve cold swellings, and expel the humours which give rise 
to them. The bark and leaves are used internally and exter-— 
nally in leprosy and scrofula. A poultice of the flowers is said 
to kill lice and cure eruptions of the scalp. The fruit has 
poisonous properties, but nevertheless is prescribed in leprosy 
and scrofula, and is worn as a necklace to avert contagious 
diseases. In China it is used as a vermifuge. = _- 
Loureiro states that the Chinese boil the berries in wine and 
_ then make a decoction of them, which has no injurious effects. 
The leaves and bark they use in itch and other skin diseases. 
The root-bark of M. azedarach is placed in the secondary list 
ofthe United States Pharmacopeeia as an anthelmintic. It has 
a bitter, nauseous taste, and yields its virtues to boiling water. 
alt is administered in the form of decoction (4 ozs, of the fresh 
bark to 2 pints of water, boiled to one pint), of which the dose 
for a child is a tablespoonful every third hour until it sensibly 
 ffects the bowels or stomach, or a dose may be given morning 
and evening for several days‘and then be followed by acathartic. _ 
Toxicology.—In large doses it produces narcotism followed 2 
: by death. De Bares Bown (Punjab Poisons) records a case ae 
12 which a European girl ate the berries, became insensible and . 
died. Descourtilz says that 6 to 8 seeds cause nausea, sm, 
and choleraic symptoms, sometimes followed by death. 
Description.—The fresh root-bark is thick and 
Spongy, the external surface scabrous and warty, of 
