166 PIPER A CEJiJ. 



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pliysicians describe it as resolvent, deobstrueut, diuretic, 

 emmenagogue, alexij^Iiarmic, and vermifuge.* 



These Aristolocliias were formerly' consideied to bo antidotes 

 for snake-bites. Albertus Magnus [Be mirabiiibus Mnndi) says: 



Si vis statim interficere serpentem, accipe ex Aristolochia 

 rotunda quantum vis et tere illam bene, et accipe ranaiu 

 sylvestrem vel campestrem et coutere ipsam et commisce earn 

 Aristolochia, et pone cum eo aliquid ex incausto, et scribe cum 

 eo m charta aut aliquo quod plus amas, et projice ad serpentes." 



Zarawand-i-gird, or mudahraj, is considered by Persian writers 

 on Materia Medica to be the female of Aristolochia loncja. Mfr 

 Muhammad Husain tells us that at Ispahan it is called 

 Nukhud-i-alwandi. Mahometan physicians describe it as resol-' 

 vent, stimulating, pectoral, stomachic, and cephalic ; they pre- 

 scribe it in jaundice and gout. True Zarawand-i-gird is very 

 scarce in India ; most of the druggists, when asked for it, supply 

 the small starchy, inert tuber of an arum.f 



The Aristolochias are still collected by herbalists in Southern 

 Europe for medicinal use. 



PIPEKACEtE. 



PIPER NIGRUM 



Fig.— ilf 



and. Trim., t. 245; Black Pepper {Enj.), Poivre noir {Fr.). 



Hab. — Travancore and Malabar. Cidtivated elsewhere. 

 The fruit. 



Vernacular.— mvsich, Kali-mirach {Hind.), Gol-marich 

 {Beng.), Uil^gxi [Tarn.), Miriy^lu {Tel.), Kuru-mulaka (MaL), 



mi 



nw 4W.^f ^ with the description of the two Aristolochias in Dioscorides 

 to wrocTire mlTl ff^'" "P^V-y^^-?^- ^liny mentions their use by «oa.en 

 iJainsUhe evH e/e^^""^' ""'^ ^P'^^'^'"' recommends them as a protective 



•bLt^Pekin fHr/"""; 7"""°^' ^^'^ Sang-puuH-hea of the Chinese, growing 



