^08 UMBELLIFERiE. 



natives of Java and of the Coromandel coast. In 1852, Boileau, a 

 French physician of Mauritius, pointed out its virtues in the treatment 

 of leprosy,^ for which disease it was largely tried in the hospitals of 

 Madras by Hunter- in 1855. It has since been admitted to a place in 

 the Pliarinacoposia of India. 



Description^ — The peduncles and petioles are fasciculed; the latter 

 are frequently 2| inches long ; the peduncles are shorter and bear a 3- 

 or 4-flowered simple umbel with very short rays. The leaves are reui- 

 form, crenate, | to 2 inches in longest diameter, 7-nerved, glabrous, or 

 when young somewhat hairy on the under side. The fruit is laterally 

 compressed, orbicular, acute on the back ; the mericarps reticulated, 

 sometimes a little hairy, with 8 to 5 curved ribs ; they are devoid of 

 vittpe. The main root is an inch or two long, but roots are also throAvn 

 out by the procumbent stem. 



When fresh, the herb is said to be aromatic and of a disagreeable 

 bitter and pungent taste ; but these qualities appear to be lost in 

 drying. 



Chemical Composition — An analysis of hydrocotyle has been made 

 by Lepine, a pharmacien of Pondicherry,^ who found it to yield a some- 

 what peculiar body which he called Vellarin, from Valdlrai, the Tamil 

 name of the plant, and regarded as its active principle. Vellarin, which 

 is said to be obtainable from the dry plant to the extent of 08 to I'O 

 per cent., is an oily, non-volatile liquid with the smell and taste of fresh 

 hydrocotyle, soluble in spirit of wine, ether, caustic ammonia, and 

 partially also in hydrochloric acid. These singular properties do not 

 enable us to rank vellarin in any well-characterized class of organic 

 compounds. 



By exhausting 3 ounces of the dried herb with rectified spirit, we 

 did not obtain anything like vellarin, but simply a green extract almost 

 entirely soluble in warm water, and containing chiefly tannic acid, which 

 produced an abundant green precipitate with salts of iron. With caustic 

 potash, neither the herb nor its extract evolved any nauseous odour. 

 The dried plant afforded Ldpine 13 per cent, of ash. 



Uses — As an alterative tonic, hydrocotyle is allowed to be of some 

 utility, but the power claimed for it by Boileau of curing leprosy is 

 generally denied. Dorvault^ regards it as belonging to the class of 

 narcotieo-acrid poisons such as hemlock, but we see no evidence to 

 warrant such an opinion. Besides being administered internally, it is 

 sometimes locally applied in the form of a poultice. Boileau says that 

 the entire plant is preferable to the leaves alone.*^ 



Substitutes (?) — H. rotundifolia Roxb., another species common in 

 India, may be known from H. asiatica by having 10 or more flowers 

 in an umbel and much smaller fruits. The European //. vulgaris L., 

 easily distinguishable from the allied tropical species just described, by 

 having its leaves orbicular and peltate (not reniform), is said to possess 

 deleterious properties. 



^Bouton, Med. [ Plants of Mauritius, ^ L'Officine {1812) Soi. 



1857. 73-83. " "It is probably by oversight that the 



2 Medical Reports, Madras, 1855. 356. leaves alone are ordered in the Pharma- 



' Drawn up from Indian specimens. copaia of India, 

 *Joum. de P/iarm. xxviii. (1855) 47. 



