* DRUGS. * 



Habitat. India. 



Remarks. First mentioned by Avicenna. An intoxicating liquor also 

 called bar is prepared from this plant in Western India. The reat 

 Ak-b&r was born beneath the Ak t and took his name from it according to 

 the local tradition of Oomercote. See also " Narcotics," " Sugars," and 

 " Gums and Resins." 



Kemidesmus indicus. R. Brown. 



Linn. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. 



The root, Indian Sarsaparilla. 



Vernacular. ' Shadipa, Sans. Muarabu, Hind. Ununtamool, Kural, 

 Beng. Muckwy, Dec. Narooneendee, Mai. Nunnari-vayar, 

 Tarn. Sooffmndttpala, Pala-chukkanderu, Tel, Irimusu, Cey. 

 Oshba, Arab. 



Habitat. Concans, Malabar, Travancore, Coromandel. 

 Sarcostemma brevistigma. JJ\ et A. Twisting Sarcostemma. 



Linn. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. 



The stem. 



Vernacular. Soma, Somaluta, Sans, and Beng. Tiaa-tshumoodoo, 

 Pulla-tige, Tel. Muwa-keeriya, Cey. 



Habitat.- Hills of Punjaub, Bolan Pass, Rohilcund, Khandeish, 

 hills about Poona, Coromandel. 



Remarks. The Som of the Vedas, its name beins: derived from the 

 circumstance that it was gathered by moonlight by the ancient Hindoos. 

 They carried it to their homes in carts drawn by rams ; and a fermented 

 liquor was prepared by mixing its juice, strained through a sieve of 

 goat's hair, with barley and ghee. This wine was drunk at all their reli- 

 gious ceremonies, and was used as an intoxicant by the rishis, who, in the 

 golden age of Hindooism, combined it at their meals with beef. Water 

 passed through a bundle of Somaluta and a bag of salt will extirpate white 

 ants from a field watered with it (Oriental Christian Spectator). See 

 " Narcotics." 



N. 0.141. APOCYNACE^:. DOGBANES. 

 Allamanda cathartica. Rte.andSch. Willow-leaved Allamanda. 



Linn. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. 



The leaf. 



Vernacular. ? 



Habitat. South America. Naturalised in Bombay. 

 Remark*. First described by Plumier. 

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