w 



but Loureiro remarks, "Haec radix non est apta ad medfcinam 

 nisi x^er aliquot aiinos in viva planta senescat ; tuncque sit subro- 

 tunda, rugosa, exterius s\ibuigra, intus fusco-pallida, circulis 

 couceutricis nigricantibus distiiicta. '' lu the Concaii the dried 

 root powdered, and fried in ghi with spices, is given with milk 

 as apaushtik or strengthening medicine, and rubbed down with 

 water to a paste it is applied to contusions. 



Dr. P. S. Mootooswamv iLul Med. Gaz.nni 1RRQ\ ofo+^c +i,„+ 



m 



beneficial to those who suffer from piles, and that a powder and 

 confection are also in use. The powder contains five drachms 

 of root, two and a half each of long and black pepper, and five 

 ounces of sugar. Dose 3i, twice daily. The confection has 

 the same quantity of root with 2^ drachms each of nutmeg, 

 mace, and Atis root, g/ti 1 oz., sugar and milk of each 10 ounces! 

 Dose as above. 



Dr. Mootooswamy finds the root to act as an astringent in 



these preparations. Ainslie, quoting Fleming {Cat, p. 29), 

 states that the root was tried as a purgative by Drs. Hunter and 

 Shoolbred, but found to have so feeble a purgative action as to 

 be useless. He also tried it himself with the same result. 

 According to Thunberg, the Japanese prepare a kind of white 

 paint for their complexions from the seeds. 



Description.— The root of young plants is cylindrical 



rm 



or subrotund, the external surface is dark brown and marked with 

 numerous circular rings; internally it is dirty white or greyish. 

 When dry, very old roots become hard, compact and heavy, 

 and deepen in colour, but younger roots are of a leathery 

 consistence. It has a faintly nauseous odour, and a sweetish 

 subacrid taste. A transverse section of the root shows numer- 

 ous concentric rings of a darker colour than the intervening 

 eubstance ; it shows numerous acicular crystals when magnified. 

 Chemical comjmifhn .—The roots were collected in July, cut 

 into slices, and exposed to warm air, then reduced to powder 

 and the desiccation completed at 100° C. 



