6Q 



CASE No. 193. CowuAGB or Cow -ITGB. (Mucuna2n%crtens, 



33. DC). A woody twiner, common in India, cultivated or 

 partially wild throughout the tropics of both hemispheres. 

 The pods, about 4 inches long and J inch wide, slightly 

 curved at each end, are densely covered with stiff brown 

 hairs, which readily separate from the pods, and, pene- 

 trating the skin, produce an intolerable itching. They are 

 used in medicine as a mechanical anthelmintic, in syrup, 

 honey, or treacle, but not so much as formerly. Cowhage 

 is imported into Europe from Bombay and the West 

 Indies for the supposed preparation of some patent 

 vermifuge. The young pods are eaten as a vegetable and 

 the root has diuretic properties. 



Pods of several other species of Mucuna are shown from 

 the East Indies, Brazil, Africa, &c., all more or less coated 

 with strong penetrating hairs. The seeds are sometimes 

 drifted across the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream from the 

 West Indian Islands to the Azores, Irish, Scotch, and 

 Norwegian coasts, where they are occasionally picked up. 

 The seeds of Mucuna capiHta^ W.&A., are used in India 

 as a weight {Massa)= 8 rati or about 16 grs. 



No. 194. Bengal Kino (jBi^^ea/ronc/o5a,Roxb.). The 

 resin exuded either naturally or from incisions in the 

 bark of an erect tree common throughout the j)lains of 

 India, Burma and Ceylon, where it is stated to thrive on 

 salt lands and in water-logged places. The resin has no 

 smell, but a strong astringent taste, for which reason it 

 is employed in medicine. The seeds are used as a 

 vermifuge in India, and from them MuDUGA oil is 

 obtained. 



The flowers (TISSOO or PULAS) are used for dyeing 

 yellow and orange red. The inner bark yields a fibre 

 for cordage and caulking the seams of boats, and a lac 

 is produced on the twigs by the puncture of a Coccus. 

 Samples of the various products mentioned are shown. 

 CASE On an upper shelf of the first division of this case 



34. observe portion of stem, and the yam-like tubers of 

 Pueraria tuderosa, DC, the latter are said to form an 

 article of food in the Punjab. 



No. 195. Ko of China, KuzA of Japan (Pueraria 

 thunbergiana, Bentb.). A large woody climber of China, 



