334 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



a refrigerant, digestive, carminative and laxative, use- 

 ful in febrile states of the system, costiveness, etc. The 

 ashes of the burnt suber are used as an alkaline medicine 

 in acidity of the urine and gonorrhea, the pulp and also 

 the leaves are applied externally in the form of a poul- 

 tice to inflammatory swellings. 



1 'The Sanskrit names of the Tamarind are Tintidi and 

 Amlika. The word 'Tamarind' appears to be derived 

 from the Arabic Tamar-Hindi (Indian date), and it was 

 doubtless through the Arabians that a knowledge of the 

 fruit passed during the Middle Ages into Europe, where, 

 until correctly described by Garcia d'Orta, it was sup- 

 posed to be produced by a kind of Indian palm. 



"The author of the Makhzan-el-Adwiya describes two 

 kinds, viz., the red, small-seeded Buzerat variety, and 

 the common reddish brown. The first is by far the 

 best." (Dymock, Pharmacographia Indica, v. I, p. 532.) 



TARAXACUM (Dandelion) 



Introduced in Pharmacopeia of 1830 (both editions) . Official 

 in all editions following, including that of 1910. 



The dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, is a plant famil- 

 iar to all, being found throughout the whole of Europe, 

 Central Asia and North America, even to the Arctic 

 regions. Although the word Taraxacum is usually con- 

 sidered to be of Greek origin, there is no authentic 

 record that the plant was known to the classical writers 

 of Greece and Rome. The herbal of Johann von Cube 

 (173), 1488, gives it a position under the name Dens 

 leonis. It is mentioned by Rhazes in the 10th century, 

 and by Avicenna (30) in the llth, and it was used in 

 Welsh medicine in the 13th century. In domestic medi- 

 eval medication and as an ingredient of many popular 



