"ROTTLERA TINCTORIA." 75 



I was told that the dye was imported from this part of the 1853 

 country." 1 



Dr. Buchanan, speaking of the articles of trade at Bangalore, 2 

 states that most of the Capili-podi dye, or powder obtained 

 from the fruit of Rottlera tinctoria, is brought there from Chin'- 

 raya-pattana, but that a little is also procured from Rama-giri ; 

 both places are in Mysore. 



Dr. Whitelaw Ainslie, in his Materia Medico, of Hindostan 

 (Madras, 1813, in 4to), page 146, has likewise noticed the 

 " Capilapodie " dye afforded by Eottlera tinctoria. 



ON EOTTLERA TINCTORIA, ROXB., AND ITS MEDI- 

 CINAL PROPERTIES. 



THE peculiar red powder which is obtained from the capsules isss. 

 of Rottlera tinctoria, Roxb., a tree of the Natural Order Euplwr- 

 biacece, has long been used in India on account of its valuable 

 properties as a dye for silk. 



Its application as a remedial agent having recently attracted 

 attention in this country, in consequence of the favourable 

 reports made by several practitioners in India, who have found 

 it eminently successful in the treatment of tcenia, I think it may Successful 

 be not uninteresting if I briefly recapitulate its history, and 

 quote some of the statements that have appeared regarding its 

 medicinal properties and mode of administration. 



The genus Rottlera, so named in honour of the Rev. Dr. Kev. Dr. 

 Bottler, an eminent Danish missionary and naturalist, was, as at 

 present restricted, founded by Roxburgh in 1798. 



Rottlera tinctoria, Roxb., is a tree of from 15 to 20 feet in 

 height ; it is common in the hilly districts of India from Burma 

 to the Punjab, and from Ceylon to the hot valleys of the whole 

 of the Himalaya, where it ascends to an elevation of 5,000 feet ; 

 it is found in the Philippine Islands, in China, and in North- 

 Eastern Australia ; it appears also to occur in the South of 

 Arabia and in the Somali country, from which regions the dye 

 obtained from it is carried to Aden for sale. 



1 A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara, and 

 Malabar. Loncl, 1807. 4to. Vol. ii., p. 343. 3 Ibid. vol. i., p. 204. 



