AMARYLLIDE^. 463 



and tlie roots having Leen washed and cleared of rootlets, are to 

 be sliced with a wooden knife, threaded upon a string, and dried 

 in the shade ; when dry they may be powdered. The dose is 

 180 grains, to be beaten np with an equal quantity of sugar in 

 a small glass of water or milk until it forms a thick mucilage. 

 Treatment to be continued for forty days, abstinence from 

 mental and physical exercise being enjoined. Mdsall is 

 prescribed for asthma, piles, jaundice, diarrhoea, colic, and 

 gonorrhoea ; it is considered to be demulcent, diuretic, tonic, and 

 aphrodisiac, and is often combined with aromatics and bitters. 



Hakim Sharafeddin in his Mujarahat has the following humorous 

 anecdote in illustration of its restorative effects : 



b'^J'^ iDJ ^'^y J^ J^ j^^. (S^^O^ h^^^ LS^:iu^^ ^J^'^J^ ^Wl^ij 



'^i UiV ^y u5a^ j J^yki i:^J r^ (^ d^O j^ ^jj J^^ 13 



The stor}?^ at once suggests to the reader that in such cases 

 "^ JJJ ^t"^ is probably as good a tonic as Musali. 



Description. — Miisali occurs as short transverse sections 

 of the root, half an inch or less in diameter, covered externally 

 by a dark-brown bark ; the substance of the root is opaque and 

 grc3'ish-brown ; portions of the characteristic, wrinkled, vermi- 

 cular rootlets may usually be found attached to some of the 

 pieces. The taste is mucilaginous and slightly bitter. 



Microscojnc structure. — The fresh root of 0. orchioides when 

 cut across presents a firm milk-white, opaque surface, marked 

 with numerous minute punctures. Thin sections show that it 

 consists of a cortical and central portion, both composed mainly 

 of a delicate parenchymatous tissue loaded with small starch 

 granules, here and there a large cell contains a bimdle of needle- 

 shaped crj'stals. The large open passages which can be been 



