36 ACANTEACE^. 



surface of the leaf and mixed witli water, tlie viscidity is at 

 once produced. Tke mucilage Ims a faint peculiar taste, but is 

 not disagreeable. - 



Chemical composition. —The fruits contain a greenish-coloured 

 fat, a small quantity of resin, and an alkaloid in the alcoholic 

 extract. The mucilage separated by water is precipitated by 

 acetate of lead solution and alcohol, and in these respects 

 resembles the mucilage of gum arable. The ash of the air- 

 dried fruit amounts to 5-4r3 per cent. 



Martynia diandra, gIox. Bot. Rep. 575, '^tiger's claw 



or '^devil's claw," is a native of Mexico, but has become quite 

 naturalized in India, .making its appearance on waste ground 

 during the rainy season. 



t) 



some flowers like those of Sesame. The fruit is a green fleshy 

 capsule which contains a hard, black, woody, wrinkled nut 

 with two anterior hooks, having something the appearance of a 

 beetle. The natives liken it to a scorpion, hence the names 

 Vtnchu and VichMdci ; they suppose it to have a curative effect 

 upon the sting of that reptile, the nut being rubbed down with 

 water and applied to the injured part. It is sold in the shops. 



■ 



ACANTHACE^E. 



HYGROPHILA SPINOSA, T. And. ■ 



Fig._JF,V,/,i Ic, t. 449; Rheede, Horf. MaL ii., l. 45. 

 Hab.-Throughout India, The plant and seeds. 



History, Uses &c -^tv,- ^ 



oftkshura.K^huiu kX. ^^^P^^^^bear. the Sanskrit names 



• '''' '^'^'*^^gandha, and KokiMksha, ''having 



