444 SCITAMINEJEJ. 



irritability of tlie bladder ; he considers it to be npliradisinc^ 

 diuretic and aperient, and recommends it to be cooked witb 

 sugar or honey."* Eaten in excess it gives rise to indigestion. 

 -Abu Hanifeh in the 9th century described very accurately the 

 manner of growth of the plantain, and quotes a saying of 

 Aah\ab, to his son, as related by As, " Wherefore do»t thou not 

 become like me ?" to which he answered, "Such as I is like the 

 Mauzahy which does not attain to a good state until its parent 

 dies/' {lladd'Cl'kamiis.) The early Italian travellers called the 

 plant Fieo cVAdamo^ and thought they saw in the transverse 

 section of the fruit a cross or even a crucifix. Mandeville 

 calls it the Apple of Paradise* The varieties of the plantain 



{R. 



viii., 2). 



Many 



used after they have been cooked ; others, as the Iclcihi, are small 



delicate in flavour. The 



Hindus 



the unripe fruit, called il/oc/^a/ca in Sanskrit, is used medicinally 

 on account of its astringent properties in diabetes ; it is made 

 into a ghrita with the three myrobalans and aromatics. Youngs 

 plantain leaves are universally used as a cool dressing for 

 blisters and to retain the moisture of water dressings ; they 



1 



serve also as a green shade for the eyes. Emerson notices the 

 use of the sap to allay thirst in cholera. Mir Muhammad 

 Ilusain in the Makhzan tells us that the centre of the stem^ 

 Kanjiyaly is eaten with fish as a vegetable in Bengal, that the 

 kind called MdlbhoJc is used as a poidtice to burns, and that 

 called BoJJiGd is boiled and used as an ointment to the syphilitic 

 eruptions of children; he also notices the use of the ashes oa 

 account of their alkaline properties, and of the root as an 

 anthelmintic. MM* Corre and Lejanne state that the fruit 

 stems sliced and macerated in water all night, yield a sudorific 

 drink ; and that the charcoal of the skin of the fruit is re- 

 commended by Chevalier as an application to the cracks in the 

 sole of^ the fi>ot from which Negroes suffer, Pereira {Bfat. 

 Med., li.. p. ^>-i'.>) has drawn attention to the nutritive properties 

 of the meal prepared froxu the fruit. In India the lower 



