AA ASCLEPIADEA,: 
have provisionally named Demine, is soluble in ether, alcohol 
and water, and shows no disposition to crystallize from these 
and other solvents, In contact with strong sulpburic acid 
it dissolves with a reddish-violet colour, gradually fading ; 
with Frohde’s reagent it gives a yellowish brown coloration, 
It forms crystalline deliquescent salts very soluble in water, 
with a bitter taste. An alkaloid having similar properties was 
separated from a sample of the root. ‘The ash from a sample 
of the dried and powdered leaves amounted to 15°33 per cent. 
DREGEA VOLUBILIS, Benth, 
Fig.—Wight Ic., t. 586 ; Rheede Hort. Mal. iz., t. 15, var. 
Lacuna; Dene. in Jacq. Voy. Bot. 108, t. 114. 
Hab.— Bengal, Assam, Deccan Peninsula, Ceylon. The 
root, herb, and fruit. 
_. Vernacular.—Nakchikni (Hind.), Titakanga (Beng.), Hiran- 
dodi, Ambri (Mar.), Kodi-palai (Tam.), Dudhi-palla (Tel.). 
_ History, Uses, &c,—This plant is not mentioned by 
Sanskrit writers; it is the Watta Kakacodi of Rheede, who 
states that the root is applied to snake-bites and given to 
women to cure headache after child-birth ; and the Kodie palay 
of Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii, 154), who remarks that “The root 
and tender stalks are supposed by the Vytians to possess 
virtues in dropsical cases; they sicken, and excite expectos 
ration ; though I eould not obtain much information of a 
certain nature respecting them; it is to be presumed that 
they operate in a manner somewhat similar to the root of the 
Asclepias cwrassavica.” The leaves are much employed by 
the Hindus as an application to boils and abscesses to pro- 
mote suppuration, and the brown mealy substance with which 
the follicles are covered is applied to the galls and sores of 
draught cattle. “The plant is noticed in the secondary list’ 
of the Pharmacopeia. of India. The variety Lucuna is pre- 
ferred. for -medicinal‘use by the natives. Irvine (Mat. Mel. © 
Patna), gays. the Plante pest in colds and tines ase. to cu ee 
