E. 
4 SAMYDACE AE. 5} 
i 
In Western India the root hasa great reputation as a remedy 
_ for hepatic enlargéments and for piles. A decoction made by 
boiling 99 to 120 grains of it for a dose in a pint of water down 
to one quarter of a pint is administered internally three times 
aday, anda paste made by braying the root ona stone is. 
sometimes applied locally as well when piles are present. The 
administration of the drug promotes the action of the liver, and 
the local application may be of use as the root is astringent. 
_ The Marathi word Gt (mora) signifies a pile, and siyj~ (dgeru) 
the intestinam rectum. Sdtaganda is compounded of ata 
(séta) seven, and az (ganda) a ring, and is applied to this 
plant because the transverse section of the largest roots shows 
seven concentric dark rings. Mormassi is a compound of 
Mora with a corruption of the Sanskrit av (masht), which 
gnifies a soft tumour. The root has long been known asa 
rag used by the Goanese in Bombay, but its source was only 
scidentally discovered in 1888 when breaking up some waste 
land for cultivation, In native practice the root is administered 
in decoction with garlic, and sometimes the leaves and root 
are given on the Western coast, We have received the root 
from Dr. P. S. Mootooswamy of Tanjore, who states that it is” 
used in the South as a remedy for diabetes, for which disease 
considered to be a specific. An extract of the root has 
n administered by us in doses of from 10 to 20 grains or 
more in a number of cases of chronic hepatic congestion with 
decided benefit ; it removes the feeling of weight and tension in 
t he hepatic region and acts as a gentle aperient upon the bowels. 
A syrup of the strength of 20 grains of extract in two fluid 
drachms has also been found to be an efficient preparation, 
_ Description.—tThe root is from } to 2 inchesin diameter, 
en very crooked, forming angular bends; it consists of a 
tral red woody column, having seven ora less number of 
k concentric rings. The bark is of a deep dull-red colour, — 
thick, and extremely hard, it is covered with a thin papery 
8 uber of an ochre-yellow colour. The taste is astringent. h 
root yields to water a Semen dark reddish-bro 
