402  LEGUMINOSE. 
and medicine ; in India it has long been extensively cultivated, 
its seeds being considered carminative, tonic, and aphrodisiac, © 
Several confections made with them are described in Sanskrit — 
works under the names of Methi modaka, Svalpa methi modaka, — 
&ec., and are recommended for use in dyspepsia with loss of — 
appetite, in the diarrhoea of puerperal women, and in rheumat- 
ism. All these preparations consist ofa number of aromatic 
substances, one part each, and fenugreek seeds equal in quan- 
tity to all the other ingredients.. Under the Arabic name of — 
Hulbah, and the Persian Shamlit, Mahometan writers describe 
the plant and seeds as hot and dry, suppurative, aperient, 
diuretic, emmenagogue, useful in dropsy, chronic cough, and ~ 
enlargements of the spleen and liver. A poultice of the — 
leaves is said to be of use in external and internal swellings 
and burns, and to prevent the hair falling off. The flour 
. of the seeds is used as a poultice, and is applied to the skin — 
as a cosmetic. They also use the oil of the seeds for various © 
purposes. In Europe the history of the plant is equally — 
ancient. Aretzeus prescribed it both internally and externally. 
The powder of the seeds was recommended by Dioscorides in — 
the form of a poultice for inflammatory affections.* Pliny 
(24, 120) mentions the use of Fenugreek or Siliciaas a me- — 
dicine, and ascribes to it the same properties as the Maho- — 
metan writers above quoted. Ainslie notices its uses by native 
practitioners i in Southern India for dysentery, the seeds being 
toasted and afterwards infused. At the present time, Fenu- 
‘greek is extensively used in India both asan article of diet and — 
asa medicine. The leaves are used both internally and exter- _ 
nally on account of their cooling properties. The young plants — 
are always to be found in the vegetable markets, and are most 
esteemed when only the two seed leaves are formed ; they are 
boiled and afterwards fried in butter, the taste is strongly — 
bitter, and disagreeable to those who have not become — 
accustomed to it ; in bilious states of the system the vegetable — 
has an aperient ache: The seeds enter into the composition - 
A LE EIT aE I TS ane een ore one a ee 
* It is the tyes of Dioscorides (ii., 93), Other Greek names are iain 
Tn). 
Ngai and — (goatsho: 
he 
ore 
