dnANTHAOEM 41 



the Makhzan-eUAclwiya (article Anjurah) gives us the follow- 

 ing account of it, from Ayhich it would appear that the true 

 Anjurah is the Urtica prima of Matthiolus {U, jnkiUfera, 

 Linn. ),* and that the seeds now in use in India have somehow 

 come to take the place of the genuine article. He says ; 

 '' Anjurah is a Persian word ; it is the Kariz of the Arabs^ the 

 Kurnah of Shiraz, the Kajit of the Turks, the Utanjan of the 

 Indians, the Urtikparira of Latin writers, and the Harkitah of 

 Gilan. The plant has numerous serrate leaves, which are armed 

 with prickles, the stem is still more prickly ; when it comes in 

 contact with the body it causes redness, burningr* and itchinsr. 

 The flowers are yellow. The seeds smooth and shining, fl.attened, 

 of a brownish colour, larger than those of Sesamum, and alto- 

 gether not unlike linseed. They are the officinal part, and if 

 good shoidd be heavy and of a brown colour.'^ Medicinally 

 they are considered to be attenuant, resolvent, diuretic, aphro- 

 disiac, expectorant, and deobstruent.f 



Description. — The Utanjan of the Indian shops consists 



of the seeds mixed with a variable proportion of broken pieces 



capsule and a few entire fruits. The latter are mitre- 



of the caj)sule and a few entire 

 shaped, about y% of an inch long and /^ broad, laterally 

 compressed, sides farrowed, surface polished, of a chestnut 

 colour; capsule 2-celled, 2-seeded; seeds heart-shaped, flat, 

 covered with long, coarse hairs ; when soaked in water the hairs 

 disintegrate and produce a large quantity of viscid mucilage. 



Microscojnc sfrucfure. — Each hair is made up of several 

 colimmar cells, each of which contains a spiral fibre, which 

 upon the solution of the cell wall uncoils and imparts an 



niu 



the 



Chemical comjmsition. 

 white ciystalline body soluble in water, amylic and ethylic 

 alcohol, but insoluble in ether and petroleum ether. It gives 



* The Roruan Nettle, TJriica prima, Matth. Valgr. s. 2, 469. It has 

 browu polished seeds. 



tCoiif. DIos. iv., 89- TTf^l aKa\v(f>r},, also Galen; Ihev recommend it as 

 »ii expectorant. 



