250 EUPHOBBIACE^. 



Vernacular. — Chhoti-dndhi^ NigacLuni {Hind.), Rakta-keni, 

 Dudhiya {Beng.)y Cliin-amam-patcliai-arissi, Bittva'palidi [Tarn.) , 

 Bidari-ndna-biyyam {TeL)^ Ddkti-dudhi^ Lahan-nayeti (Mar,), 



Dodliuk, Hazardana {Punj\). 



History, Uses, &C. — This plant is not mentioned in 

 the standard Sanskrit medical worksj but, along with the allied 

 species B, gramdafa, Forsk., E. micropkyUa^ Heyne, and 

 E. ChrJ^eana^ Hook/., which the natives do not distinguish from 

 it, it is used medicinally in most parts of India and the East, 

 The author of the KhulamUel-tajarib states that it is a small 

 milky prostrate plant with slender reddish stems, and opposite 

 leaves about the size of a split lentil seed, very common about 

 Merv in sandy ground. It is hot and dry in the first of the 

 third degree; the expressed juice or powdered plant with wine 

 is given as a remedy for the bites of venomous reptiles, and is 

 applied externally to the bitten part ; with milk it i 



:pel 



Accord- 



ing to Ainslie, the Sanskrit name is Rakta-vindu-chhada, which 

 would imply that it is a remedy for iJr/ A: 2f a -iu'y^/fw, '* gonorrhoea 

 with sanious discharge." He remarks: — " The very small leaves 

 and seeds of this low-growing annual plant, which, in their 

 dried state, are slightly aromatic and a little astringent, are 

 given by the Tamool doctors, in worm cases, and in certain 

 bowel affections of children ; they are commonly administered 

 in the form of powder, and in buttermilk, to the quantity of 

 one pagoda and a quarter weight in the course of the day on an 

 empty stomach. The leaves when carefully dried smell some- 

 thing like tea," (Ma^. Ind,, ii., 75.) Irvine states that it is used 

 as a stimidant and laxative in Northern India. In the Concan 

 the juice is used to cure ringworm, and mixed with chloride of 

 ammoniuui for the cure of dandriff, O'Shaughnessy says that 



mce 



the Arabs, applied to wounds. In the Diet. Econ. Prod of 

 India, it is stated, on the authority of the Eev. A. Campbell, 

 that the Santals use the root of this plant, which they call 

 Nanha-pusi-toa, as a remedy for amenorrhcBa. 



