1 64 A UISTOLiJCHIACEM 



Ilinclu physicians on account of its bitter, purgative, and 

 anthelmintic properties. The leaves are applied to the navel to 

 move the bowels of children, and are also given internally ui 

 combination with castor oil as a remedy for colic. The juice of 

 the fresh leaves or the powder of the dried leaves is a favourite 

 application to sores to destroy maggots. In the Kuriiool 

 District, when the sazza is attacked with insects, a long rope 

 soaked in the juice of the plant, and with the leaves of the 

 plant attached, is drawn OA^er the crop. Dr. Hove, who visited 

 Bombay in 1787, found the plant growing in great abundauce 

 in Guzerat, He states that the root and leaf are remarkably 

 bitter, and yield a thick yellowish juice, which is mixed with 

 boiled milk and given in syphilis, and combined "s^'ith opium is 

 used with great success in gonorrhoea. Ainslie notices the 

 application of the leaf, when bruised and mixed with castor oil, 

 to obstinate psora (the Carpang of the Tamils). The plant is 

 also thought to stimulate uterine contraction, and is administer- 

 ed in tedious labour and as an emmenasrosrue. In Dalzeil and 



o^o 



Gibson's Flora of Bombay (p. 225) it is spoken of as possessing 

 a merited reputation as an antiperiodic in intermittent fevers. 

 The native doctors in Bombay make a paste with water, of the 

 plant, along with the seeds of Barringtonia aatfangida, Celasfnis 

 pameulata, and black pepper, and rub the whole body with it for 

 the cure of malarial fevers. 



The evidence collected by Dr. AVatt (Diet. Econ. Prod. India, 

 i., 314) stows that it is the opinion of several European phv- 

 eicians in different parts of India that the plant has a decided 

 action upon the uterus, and increases or induces uterine con- 

 tractions. There appears to be no doubt as to its anthelmintic 

 properties. 



Description.— 'J'he drug consists of the whole plant in 

 fruit ; the stems are striated, slender, and about as thick as 

 a piece of whipcord ; the leaves are of a pale, glaucous green, 

 obtuse, heart-shaped, with wavy edges, about 2 inches long and 

 l\ inch broad, when dry they are blackish ; the capsules are 

 ovate, i of an inch long, ribbed, depro^^ed at the apex, six-celled ; 



