WOODFORDIA 



FLORIBUNDA 



THE CHEESEMAKER 



Prom the United that year, 150,899 gallons came from the United Kingdom ; 99,587 from 

 France; 15,982 from Italy ; 11,672 from Belgium ; 11,782 from Ger- 

 many. The quantities from other countries were comparatively insignifi- 

 cant. The shares received by the various provinces (in gallons) were as 

 follows : Bombay, 105,200; Bengal, 99,308; Madras, 52,360; Sind, 

 38,230 ; Burma, 33,968. The shares (in gallons) taken by the chief im- 

 porting countries in the different sorts of wine may be similarly exemplified 

 by the figures for 1906-7 : CHAMPAGNE United Kingdom, 13,292 ; 

 Belgium, 7,819 ; France, 6,638. CLARET France, 27,353 ; United Kingdom, 

 8,084. PORT United Kingdom, 77,080; Germany, ' 7,544. SHERRY 

 United Kingdom, 18,023. OTHER SORTS France, 63,416 ; United King- 

 dom, 34,420 ; Italy, 11,418 ; Spain, 7,022, etc. 



D.E.P., 



vi., pt. iv., 

 309-12. 



Vegetable 

 Rennet. 



Medicine. 



D.E.P., 

 vi., pt. iv., 

 312-5. 



w 



WITHANIA, Pauq. ; Fl. Br. Ind., iv., 239-40 ; Gamble, Man. 

 Ind. Timbs., 1902, 508 ; SOLANACE^E. A genus of shrubs, two of which 

 are natives of India. 



W. coagulans, Duna/. The Cheesemaker or Indian Rennet, akri, panir, 

 ashvagandd, spin bafja, shdpiang, khamazora, kdknaj, amukkura, penneru-gadda, 

 etc. A small herb common in the Panjab, Sind, Afghanistan and Baluchistan. 



The fruit, both fresh and dried, is used medicinally, but is chiefly important 

 as possessing the property of coagulating milk, and is used for that purpose instead 

 of rennet in Sind, North- West India, Afghanistan and Baluchistan. This pro- 

 perty was first noticed and made known by Stocks in 1849 (Journ. As. Soc. 

 Bomb., 56). Mr. S. Lea published an account (Proc. Boy. Soc., 1883, xxxvi., 

 55-8) of experiments made on the seeds for the purpose of ascertaining whether 

 they contained a definite ferment with the properties of ordinary rennet. The 

 seeds were subjected for 24 hours to the action of various solvents which were 

 then added to milk. A 5-per-cent. solution of common salt in water was found 

 most effective in extracting the ferment, which rapidly curdles milk. In sum- 

 ming up, Lea states that the results of the experiments proved "that the seeds 

 of withania can be used as an adequate and successful substitute for animal 

 rennet." [(?/. Pharmacog. 2nd., ii., 569-72; Agri. Ledg., 1893, No. 17, 114; 

 1895, No. 5, 64-6 ; Kew Bull., 1903, 27-8.] 



W. somnifera, Dunal; Prain, Beng. Plants, 1903, ii., 750. The panir, asgandh, 

 ashvagandhd, kutilal, tilli, ghodd, amukkura, penneru-gadda, etc. An erect shrub 

 found throughout the drier parts of India ; frequent in the west and in Hindustan, 

 rare in Bengal. 



Leaves, seeds and root are used in Native MEDICINE, being reputed to have 

 diuretic and narcotic properties. The root, however, according to Dymock 

 (Mat. Med. W. Ind., 1885, 643) " has universally been confounded with a root 

 met with under the same names in the bazars, but which bears no resemblance 

 to the root of w. *oijii/e-o." The asgand of the shops is the tuber of a convol- 

 vulus, which, though much smaller and different in habit, does not appear to differ 

 botanically from ivomam iiigitatn (p. 686). In Bombay the seeds of this species 

 are employed to coagulate milk in the same way as those of the former, already 

 detailed, and both plants accordingly often bear the same vernacular names. 



[Cf. The Bower Manuscript (Hoernle, transl.), 1893-7, 18, 87, 108, etc. ; Mat- 

 thiolus, New Kreuterbuch, 1563, 465 ; Bruce, Travels in Africa, 1790, v., 54-6 

 (the Wanzey) ; Paulus JEgineta (Adams, Comment.), 1847, iii., 359-60; Phar- 

 macog. Ind., ii., 566-9 ; Banerjei, Agri. Cuttack, 1893, 190 ; Agri. Ledg., 1896, 

 No. 28, 282-3 ; Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind., 1900, 210-1.] 



WOODFORDIA FLORIBUNDA, Salisb.; Fl. Br. Ind., ii., 572 ; 

 Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 369-70; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb., 1903, i., 

 510-1 ; Duthie, Fl. Upper Gang. Plain, 1903, 351 ; Prain, Beng. Plants, 

 1903, i., 502 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 1906, 341 ; LYTHRACE.E. The ddwi, 



1120 



