842 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL KLST. SOCLETY, Vol. XXIV. 



For a long time the plant enjoyed the repiitation of being protective 

 against infections diseases. It formed one of 'the chief ingredients of the 

 so-called " Eobber-vinegar" (also known under the names of Four robber- 

 vinegar or Plague-vinegar) which was used as a preventive against plague. 

 Even at the present day this preparation is used for fumigating sick rooms, 

 though it has been proved useless by medical science. Johnstone wrote 

 m 1632 : " Euta libidinem in viris extingait, auget in feminis." (^) 

 Boshrave (1668-1738) is full of praise for the virtues of Rue, especially 

 in promoting perspiration. In the Schola Salerni we read the following 

 lines : 



" Ruta facit castum dat lumen et ingerit astum, 



Oocta faclt Ruta de pulicibus loca tuta." 



In the East, too, this latter point seems to be known, as people place the 

 plant in beds in order to keep off insects. Even cats and rats cannot 

 stand the smell of the plant (-). 



India received the plant from the West and with it a number of super- 

 stitious practices connected with it. The dried and burnt leaves are much 

 used in S. India and the Konkan (^) for the purpose of fumigating young 

 children suffering from catarrh. In a fresh state, after being bruised and 

 mixed with arrack, it is employed as an external remedy in the first stages 

 of paralytic aft'ections. When dried in the shade and powdered, the vytians 

 prescribe this substance together with certain aromatics in cases of dyspep- 

 sia. They entertain the same notion regarding it that Dioscorides did of old, 

 viz., that it is inimical to the foetus in utero when given in conjunction 

 with camphor and the sugar of the palmyra toddy. In the Punjab the 

 leaves are taken as a remedy for rheumatic pains and also as an anthel- 

 mintic. It is also used for fowls in the roup. 



Modern chemistry and pharmacy has very little to say about this famous 

 plant. " "By distillation with water the fresh herb yields a small quantity 

 of volatile oil. This has a pale j^ellow colour when fresh, but becomes 

 brown by keeping. Its odour is strong and disagreeable, and it has an 

 acrid and nauseous taste. It has a specific gravity of 0"837 at 18° C, 

 boils at 228°-230° C and solidifies between -\-V and 2° into shining crystal- 

 line laminae. Oil of Rue is chiefly a mixture of a hydrocarbon with an 

 aldehyde or keton belonging to the series On H2n O.'' (^) 



As to its uses, the few pharmacopoeias that mention it at all, agree on 

 the whole with each other. The following may be considered the substance 

 of many lengthy descriptions : Rue is emmenagogue, ecbolic, anthelmintic 

 and antispasmodic. In large doses it seems to be a narcotico-acrid poison. 

 It causes abortion when used by pregnant females, accompanied with 

 inflammation of the stomach and bowels. Sometimes it causes painful 

 vomiting, always great prostration, confusion of mind, cloudy vision, feeble- 

 ness and slowness of pulse, coldness of the extremities, and twitching of 

 the limbs. Its action is chiefly directed upon the uterus, and is capable of 

 exciting menorrhagia, inflammation and miscarriage. It has been success- 

 fully used in flatulent colic, hysteria, same nervous complaints, epilepsy, 

 and as an excellent vermifuge. Oil of Rue has been observed to produce 

 similar effects. Dose of the leaves, from 10-20 grains of the decoction, 

 from 1-4 fluid ounces of the oil, from 2-6 drops. 



(1) Johnstone. Thaumatog-raphia Xaturalis in decern classes distincta. 

 Ams';erdam, 1632. 

 (-) Leunis. Synopsis der Pflanzenkmide. Vol. II, 357. 

 (') Dalzell and Gibson. 1. c- Suppl. 17. 

 C*) Watt. Dictionary of Economic Prodnctg, under Ruta. 



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