624 FILICES 



Biigar-candy, and tlie decoction (kara) boiled down to one-eighth ; 

 this is to be taken in the morning, and the marc is to be again 

 treated in the same manner to furnish the nikara (second 

 decoction) or evening dose. The same prescription is recom- 

 mended in hectic fever from whatever cause, and in dyspepsia 

 and cough ; during its use potatoes and indigestible vegetables 

 are to be avoided. 



Rheede (xii., 12, 13) has the following remarks upon the 

 medicinal use of Polypodiiim iaccifoliiim in Malabar :— '^Succus 

 radicis vermes enecat, bilem sistit et temperat. Folia in 

 pulverem redacta cum melle assumpta secundinas, menses, imo 

 footum ipsum fortiter ejiciunt j mulieres ergo cavete vobis/' 



ADIANTUM VENUSTUM, Bon. 



l^ig.—IIooL Sp. FiL u., 40 ; Bedd. Ferns. Brit Ind. xx. 

 Hab. — Himalaya, Afghanistan, Persia. The plant. 

 Vcrnacidar.'-K^n^ril, Mobarkha {LuL Bazars). 



History^ Uses, &c. —Under the name of a^lavTOP a 

 fern is described by Dioscorides as baring leaves serrated at 

 tbe top like coriander ( (pvWapia e^ei Kopidvipa Sfioia €Veo-xto-/^e»'« ^'"' 

 SKopov ). This plant was doubtless Adiantum Capilhts Veneris, 

 turn, the same description would apply equally well to A, venus- 

 but wbicb has been adopted by the Mahometan physicians of 

 the Bast as representing the ^biaurov of the Greeks. The Western 

 Arabs, however, appear to use A. Gapillus Veneris, as they call 

 the plant Kuzburat-el-bir or " coriander of the well," indicating 

 a habitat where A. venustum is not found. Other Arabic 

 names for the genns Adiantum are Shaar-el-jinn "fairies' hair," 

 Shaar-el-jibal "hair of . the mountains," Shaar-el-fual "hair 

 of omens/' Sak-el-aswad "black stem," Nasif-el-aswad "black 

 veil," &c.' Ibn Sina and other medical writes describe the 

 drug under the name of Barsiawash^n, which is the Arabian 

 fonn of the Persian name Parsiawashan. It is considered to 

 be deobstnient and resolvent, useful for clearing the pri>i>(^ 

 vice of bile, adust bile, and phlegmatic humors j also pectoral, 



