408 : LEGUMINOS&. 
j 
indigo ; the fifth 32,251 Ibs. of Sirches indigo; the sixth — 
59,698 lbs. of Bajana indigo ; and the seventh 27,532 lbs. of Q 
Sirches. The value of the indigo brought in these ‘ships was 
at least 500,000 dollars. E 
The indigo plant was not known in Europe until the cloud ; 
of the 16th century. 3 
Both Hindus and Mahometans consider the plant to have — 
attenuant properties ; they prescribe it in whooping-cough, ‘ 
affections of the lungs and kidneys, palpitation of the heart, 3 
enlargement of the spleen or liver and dropsy. Indigo applied ’ a 
to the navel of children is said to act upon the bowels; it is : 
applied to the hypogastrium to promote the action of the — 
bladder. “ 
A poultice or plaster of the leaves is recommended in various 
skin affections, and is used as a stimulating application to old 
‘ulcers, haemorrhoids, &c. Indigo is applied to the bites and 
stings of venomous insects and reptiles to relieve the pain, also 
to burns and scalds, and in Bengal is commonly applied to 
wounds, &c., of horses and cattle. 
The plant has a great repute in some alate of India as & 
prophylactic against hydrophobia, so much so as to be known 
among the natives as “‘ the dog-bite shrub.’ A wineglassful of 
the juice of the leaves is administered in the morning, with or 
without milk, for three days, to those who have been bitten 
by dogs supposed to be mad. People who have taken it 
. inform us that beyond slight headache no disagreeable effect is 
produced, but that when a larger dose has been given it has. 
proved purgative. In addition to the internal administration, 
the expressed leaves are each day applied tothe bitten part as @ 
poultice. Rheede, speaking of indigo, says—‘“viribus veneni 
obsistit.” Ainslie noti¢es the use of the root by the Hindusi 
hepatitis. It would appear that the wild indigo (I. paucifolia, 
_ Delile,) is considered to have the same medicinal properties as 
I. tinctoria and its variety I. anil. For Roth’s observations 
— on the use of Indigo in epilepsy and other spasmodic affection 
ae ape ond: For. —— » July 1886, p. 244. His accoun 
