MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 493 



he mentions Hymenodictyon obovatum, " Saphet Kura," and Hymenodictyon 

 excelsum, " Kala Kurwah." So it is clear there are five different plants 

 in two natural orders, " Apocynacece. " and " Rubiacice" called by native 

 names " Kuras " or " Kurwas," and I do not think the Hindustani name 

 for Holarrhena antidysenterica is clear enough to distinguish it from other 

 " Kurwahs." Further, the similarity of most of them to each other adds to 

 the confusion of the names. The natives, ignoring the above varieties, make 

 only two classifications of this plant, black and white, viz., " Kala " and 

 " Pandra " or "Daula," and even this distinction is not characteristic inasmuch 

 as some call a variety Pandra, whereas others call it Kala, guided by the 

 exterior appearance of the plant, which is variable either on account of its 

 age or some other circumstance. In the native practice only the seeds are 

 used, and I do not know how far their genuineness can be depended upon in 

 the presence of such a confusion. The seeds are procured from the jholliwal- 

 lahs or travelling vydias and professional herbalists or quacks, and they are 

 paid by the weight of the drug, which is in fact a dangerous temptation. I 

 believe the distinguishing marks of Holarrhena antidysenterica have been 

 fully described in the " Pharmacopoeia of India, 1 ' and if the details therein 

 given are strictly observed, the genuineness and purity of the drug will be 

 secured, and I would suggest to those procuring or using it to collect either 

 by paying for the labour or buying it from a reliable dealer. If the true plant 

 is used, I have found it very efficacious as it was once believed to be. 



M. C. PEREIRA. 



Bandra, April 1895. 



Note by Surgeon Majoe K. R. Kirtikar. 

 The Hemidesmus, which Mr. Pereira speaks of, should have been named 

 specifically as Hemidesmus indicus, R. Br., of which the South Kokan name is 

 ^riT^ir^ (Uparsal) or 3"<T55STrr (Upalsari) and not Uparsare as Mr. Pereira 

 spells it, which is a lingual contortion of the proper name as uttered here. 

 Anantmul is also a Marathi synonym of this plant not unknown in the Kokan. 

 It may be added that (fT^T) Wahandi or 3T$T^ r WaJehandi is also a Mara- 

 thi name Of Gymnema Sylvestte in the Dekkan. I remember that nearly ten 

 years ago a plant was sent to me from Sholapur under that name for identi- 

 fication, as a plant deadening the taste for sweet things, especially cane sugar. 

 The gentleman who sent it was a medical man practising in Sholapur at that 

 time. It was Dr. Dharmaji Ganesh Kamat, L.M., who has since settled in 

 Bombay and is practising there at present, having given up his appointment as 

 a Railway Medical Officer at Sholapur. 



No. XII —MUSCULAR ACTION AFTER DEATH. 

 In thinking over the extraordinary statement made by your correspondent 

 that he shot a snake into two pieces and saw each half run off into a tank 40 

 yards away as if they were nothing the worse for the damage, I beg to propound 

 what appears to me a reasonable explanation of the difficulty. 



