ASCLEPIADE.£. 451° 
_. History, Uses, &c.—This shrubby climbing plant is” 
called Meshasringi, “ram’s horn,” in Sanskrit, but it is. not : 
‘mentioned in the Raja Nirghanta. It is considered to be the 
Meshasringi of Madanpal’s Nighanta and of the Marathi and_ 
-Guzerathi Nighantas, which are little more than translations of 
that work. It bears the following synonyms—Mesha vishanika, 
Meshavalli, Sarpa-darushtrika, Anydda, Kshina-vartta, Vrik- 
shikali and Vishanika, and is described as having a pungent: 
taste and the properties of an astringent ae bitter stomachic ; 
useful in cough, biliousness, boils, sore eyes, 
It is also in repute amongst the Hindus asa remedy for 
snake bite, the powdered root being applied to the part bitten, 
and a decoction administered internally. Its use for this pur- 
pose is well known to the natives of the Concan, and as 
appears from Ainslie (Mat. Ind. II., 390), also to the natives of 
Southern India. The root is also said to have virtues similar to 
Tpecacuanha, Roxburgh describes the plant under the name 
of Asclepias: geminata, and remarks that the small yellow 
flowers, with the globular apex of the white common stigma, 
projecting in the centre, look like fine pearls set in gold. He 
_ says nothing of its medicinal properties. G. sylvestre is said 
_ to be the binnuge of the Cingalese. A curious circumstance 
connected with this plant was first noticed by Mr. Edgeworth, 
namely, that if chewed it destroys the power of the tongue to 
appreciate the taste of sugar and all saccharine substances. 
This property of the leaves has been recently (1887) tested 
carefully by Mr. D. Hooper, who says:— After chewing one 
or two leaves it’ was proved undoubtedly that sugar had no 
taste immediately afterwards. Sugar in combination with 
other compounds in dietetic articles is plainly destroyed as to 
its taste after using these leaves. In ginger bread, for instance, 
_ the pungency of the ginger is alone detected, the rest is 
tasteless meal ; in a sweet orange the taste of the sugar is so 
‘Suppressed cod that of the citric acid consequently developed, 
that in eating, it resembles a lime in sourness. Among the 
al kinds of foods, drugs abd beverages which affect ‘the — 
does not pretend to render them alt. . 
Rn ti ae eae Tae 
Sao 
