402 SCITAMINE^. 



was probably introduced by the Portuguese, whose descendants 

 and converts at the present day use the leaves in cookery, 

 . especially with fish. From Dr. Hovels account of Bombay in 

 1787 it appears that Kachura and Turmeric were cultivated 

 at that time in the cocoanut woods at Mahim, The natives 

 chew the root to correct a sticky taste in the mouth ; it is also an 

 ingredient in some of the strengthening conserves which arc 

 taken by women to remove weakness after child-birth. In 

 colds it is given in decoction with long-popper, cinnamon and 

 honey, and the pounded root is applied as a paste to the body, 

 liheede says that the starch of the zedoary is much esteemed, 

 and that the fresh root is considered to be cooling and diuretic, 

 it checks leucorrhosal and gonorrhceal discharges and purifies 

 the blood. The juice of the leaves is given in dropsy. One of 

 us has had the plant in cviltivation for some years ; it blossoms 

 in the hot weather just before the rains, when the first leaves 

 begin to appear. 



Description. — Guibourt's description already giA'en 



agrees exactly with the Kachura of India, but it is often cut 

 into transverse slices instead of into halves and quarters. 



Microscopic structure. — This is essentially the same as that 

 of turmeric, but the resin and essential oil in the cells is of a 

 yellowish -white eoloui% and the greater portion of the starch 

 grains are ovoid or pyriform, instead of narrow and elongated 

 as in turmeric. 



Chemical composition. — Zedoary contains, according io 

 Bucholz [Repert. Pharm. xx.^ 376), volatile oil, a bitter soft 

 resin, a bitter extractive matter, gum, starch, &c. The oil is 

 turbid, yellowish-white and viscid, has a camphoraceous taste 

 and smell, and consists of two oils, one lighterj the other heavier 

 than water. Trommsdorff obtained from the root a substance 

 which he called Zedoariny but did not further describe it. A 

 proximate analysis afforded : 



Essential oil, resin, curcurain, &c 3*79 



Resins, sugar , -gO 



Gum and organic acids " ' * 1 5-22 



otarcn ,,, »..,., 17^0 



m 



