50 ACANTEACEM. 



Blxrub, the roots of which have a repi^tatlon in the Concan m 

 jaundice and menorrhagia, Rheede {Hort. MaL ii.y 20) notices 



m 



Description . — Stems several, straight, jointed^ and 

 swelled above the Joints; woody and round below, quadrangular 

 and tender above; leaves elliptic-oblong, attenuated at both 



ends, pubescent^ oi 

 oval, quite entire^ 



as 



eded 



ADHATODA VASICA, Mes. 



•Fig.-_L«w^. in., t 12,/. 1 ; BoL Mag., t 861 ; Grif. Ic. n 

 As., t 424 ; Meeck Ilort. Mai ix., t. 43. Malabar nut tree [Eng] 



Hab. — India, from tlie Punjab and Assam to Ceylon. The 

 leaves, root, and flowers. 



Vernacular. — Arusa, Rils, Bansa {Hind.), Adulsa [Mar.], 

 Bakas {Beng:), Adulso, Bansa [Giiz.], Adatodai {Tarn.), Addas- 

 aram {Tel.), Ata-lotakam (J/«/.), Ad6sala, Ad-usoge [Can.]. 



History, Uses., &C. — This sbrub has a considerable repu- 

 tation all over India as an expectorant and antispasmodic, ^nd 

 is largely prescribed in consumption and other cbest affections 

 attended witb cough and hectic fever. Sanskrit writers call 

 it Vasaka, Yansa, Vrisha, Sinha-mukhi "lion -mouthed" Sinha- 

 parui "lion-leaved/' and Atarusha, Atarusha or Atardshaka, 

 and direct the fresh juice of the leaves to be given in doses of one 

 toU (180 grs.), with the addition of honey and long pepper, iii 

 cough. Dutt, in his Flindu Materia Medica, gives several com- 

 pound preparations of the dru* extracted from Sarangadhara 



Q v.^^u^«.v.uv.»* ^..v^^x^ ^^ o 



and the Bhavaprakasa, and remarks that there is a saying that 

 no man suffering from phthisis need despair ag long as the 

 Vasaka plant exists. In the Nighantas it is described as 

 removing phlegm, bile, and impurities of the blood, a remedy foi^ 

 asthma, cough, fever, vomiting, gonorrhosa, leprosy, afi^ 

 phthisis. Persian writers upon Indian Materia Medica notice 

 the ph...t under its Hindustani name of Ardsa. The author of 



