Internal 

 Trans- 

 actions. 



Industries. 



Rhinoceros 

 Horn-cup. 



Buffalo 

 Horn-ware. 



HYDROCOTYLE 



ASIATICA HORN-WORK 



Penny-wort. 



countries (by sea) are unimportant, in 1903-4 having been only 353 cwt., 

 valued at Rs. 75,041 ; and in 1905-6, 316 cwt., valued at Rs. 69,318. 



The examination of the returns of trade carried by rail and river 

 reveals the fact that the chief provinces of supply are Bombay, the 

 United Provinces, Central Provinces, the Panjab, Bengal and Madras. 

 Official returns of the trade of England and Continental countries 

 distinguish as a rule the traffic in deer horns from that in buffalo, and 

 judged from these it would appear that India is one of the chief countries 

 from which the former are obtained. Indian trade statistics do not separate 

 the two, so that the returns reviewed above are for all grades collectively. 



Indian Industries. The chief forms of horn used in the Indian craft 

 (Jcangi-sdz) are buffalo and bison horn, since there are religious objections 

 to the use of cow-horn. A cup made of rhinoceros-horn is much prized 

 by Hindus, but it is too scarce a material to be generally used. Buffalo- 

 horn is by far the most largely employed in India of all horns, but it is 

 the least beautiful. It is made into cups, tumblers, combs, musical instru- 

 ments, work-boxes, powder-flasks, bows and arrows, hukka mouth-pieces, 

 scent-bottles, snuff-boxes, sword, dagger and knife handles, and many 

 other such articles. The centres of the trade are Cuttack, Monghyi, 

 Satkhira (Khulna), Hughli and Serampore in Bengal, where combs, 

 brooches, necklaces, snake bangles and the like are made. Rajputana, 

 Jaipur and Kota are famed for their horn works. Rajkote combs, Baroda 

 spoons, Kathiawar knife -handles, Surat and Ahmedabad veneered boxes 

 and Baroda animal toys of horn are all well known. In Mysore, um- 

 brella-handles, powder-boxes and buttons are made of buffalo-horn, and 

 often richly inlaid with ivory and copper. But it is in Vizagapatam 

 that horn veneered work may be said to have assumed the condition of 

 high-class ware. In Ratnagiri and Savantvadi,a fair trade is done in 

 bison-horn work. Aitken (Agri. Ledg., 1897, No. 10) wrote a most 

 interesting account of the industry in the former locality. Perhaps 

 the most instructive feature of that publication may be said to be the 

 method of softening the horn. It is coated with cocoanut-oil and heated 

 before a fire until it becomes sufficiently soft to allow of its being pulled 

 out and moulded into the desired shape. 



[Cf. Boyle, Prod. Res. Ind., 4; Lewin, Wild Races S.E. Ind., 306; Mukharji, 

 Art. Manuf. Ind., 148-9, 279-81 ; Forsyth, Highlands C. Prov., i., 278-9 ; 

 Hoey, Monog. Trade and Manuf. N. Ind., 130-1 ; Birdwood, Ind. Art., ii., 218 ; 

 Ind. Art. at' Delhi, 1903, 194-8.] 



Vizagapatam 

 Boxes. 



Bison Horn. 



Softened by 

 Oocoanut-oil. 



D.E.P., 

 iv., 311-5. 

 Penny- 

 wort. 



Medicine. 



HYDROCOTYLE ASIATICA, Linn. ; Fl Br. Ind., ii., 669 ; 

 Cooke, Fl Pres. Bomb., 1903, i., 562 ; Duthie, Fl. Upper Gang. Plain, 1903, 

 390-1 ; UMBELLIFER.E. The Asiatic Penny-wort, brahmi, brdhmaman- 

 duki, tholkuri, Jcarivana, valldrai, mandukaparni. A small herbaceous 

 plant, found throughout India from the Himalaya to Ceylon at altitudes 

 up to 2,000 feet. 



The medicinal properties of this plant were known to Sanskrit writers of 

 very remote times, and the early European writers on Indian Materia Medica 

 were also acquainted with the plant. The parts generally employed are the 

 leaves, dried by exposure to the air and ground to a powder. The powder is of 

 a pale green colour and exhales a slight characteristic aroma. It is an alterative, 

 tonic and a local stimulant, said to be efficacious both as an internal and ex- 

 ternal remedy in ulcerations, eczema, leprosy and other cutaneous affections. 

 The chemistry of the leaves was first investigated by Lepine in 1855, who found 

 they contained oily and resinous constituents, with mucilaginous principles and 



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