964. COMPOSITA. 
acetate of lead. M. V. Cheatham (1884) obtained only 14:5 
per cent. of fixed oil, and a principle which’ was precipitated 
y 
SIEGESBECKIA ORIENTALIS, je 
Fig.—Wight. Ic., t..1103; Schk. Han. 8, t. 256. Herbe= 
guérit-vite (Fr.). 
Hab.—Throughout India. Cosmopolitan in warm climate 
: Vernacular. —He-kien, Kau-kau (Chix.), Katampam, Kat- 
ampu (Z'um.). 
History, Uses, &c.—This plant is named after Dr. 
George Siegesbeck,a German physician, fomerly director of 
the gardens at Petersburgh. It appears to have been long - 
known in China as a remedy for ague, rheumatism, and renal 
colic; but as far as we know, its medicinal properties are not 
known to. the natives of India. The properties of the plant 
have been studied by Vinson and Louvet, who state that in the 
island of Réunion it has a considerable local reputation as a 
sialagogue, vulnerary, tonic, aperient and depurative; it isan 
ingredient in Périchon’s Sirop depuratif végétal, which is used 
as a remedy in venereal and scrofulous affections. The juice 
_of the fresh herb is used as a dressing for wounds, over which, 
as it dries, it leaves a varnish-like coating. A decoction of 
the leaves and young shoots is used as a lotion for ulcers and 
parasitic skin diseases. Other preparations of the plant are 4 
wine and a watery extract, Auffrey of the Mauritius separated 
a bitter principle from the drag which he named darutyne, in 
honour of Dr. ©. Daruty, the author of a work upon the 
medicinal plants of that Island.* J. Hutchinson (Brit Med. 
ie ae 
Py papain. | Ae ptt ga Journ. Pharm., 1881, 271, and 1884, 134.) — 
Seen. 
Journ., June 25, 1887,) has recommended a tincture of Sie- ; 
genbiock ix as a local application in certain skin diseases; he 
remarks that most of the medicaments now in use inconveni- 
ence the patient on account of their greasy nature, and, ce 
* Plantes médicinales de Vile Maurice et des pays intertropicaux. 
Maurice : . Christy, New Commercial Plants, No. 9, pp. 49-52, 
