1904.] D. Hooper — Rusot : an ancient Eastern Medicine, 179 



Fil-zalirah or Pil-zahrah j in Arabic, Huziz or Hooshish ; and in West 

 Afghanistan, Ibran. 



In Hindu Materia Medica the root and extract are regarded as 

 alterative and deobstruent, and are used in skin diseases, menorrhagia, 

 diarrhoea and jaundice, but above all they have the greatest reputation 

 in affections of the eje, mixed with opium, alum or rock-salt. 



Dr. Wise, the author of " Commentaries on the Hindu System of 

 Medicine," and Dr. Walker, of the Edinburgh Eye Dispensary, tried 

 the preparation of Rusot with some measure of success in ophthalmia, but 

 the opinion of Europeans is best summed up by Sir W. B. 0' Shaugh^ 

 nessy in the following words : — " Rusout is best given as a febrifuge in half 

 drachm doses, diffused through water, and repeated thrice daily or even 

 more frequently. It occasions a feeling of agreeable warmth at the 

 epigastrium, increases appetite, promotes digestion and acts as a very 

 gentle but certain aperient. The skin is invariably moist during its 

 operation." 



Surgeon General W. R. Cornish reported that the Nilgiri Bar- 

 berry had been used in the treatment of ague with good results, and 

 coffee planters in the Wynaad, among others, have used it as a febri- 

 fuge. Preparations of barberry are still favourably employed by the 

 medical profession in India, and a tincture of the root bark is often re- 

 commended in the treatment of fever. 



The dried stem of Berberis aristata has recently been introduced 

 into the Indian and Colonial Addendum to the British Pharmacopoeia, 

 and a liquid extract and tincture have been prescribed as desirable 

 preparations for administering the drug. 



Barberry wood and root were formerly used as a dye and pigment 

 and among the Paharis or hill tribes the powdered wood is still smeared 

 on the face to form caste-marks. According to the vernacular names 

 employed in India these products were sometimes confounded with 

 turmeric, and in some works it is stated that the properties of Barberry 

 are similar to those of turmeric. It is known that the tree was for- 

 merly in use in Astrachan and Poland in Russia as a dye for leather, 

 and in Germany it was used for staining wood. Dr. Royle in a letter 

 addressed to the Agri- Horticultural Society of India, in 1838, informed 

 the Secretary that the wood and root were in great demand in Europe 

 and the supply in the South of Europe had failed. Samples from 

 Ceylon had been tried and they were pronounced to be superior to any 

 in the market. He finally suggested that the extract made in the hills 

 of India and sold in the bazars as Rusot might be tried as a dye. It 

 was said that it could readily be obtained for 4cZ. to Qd. the pound 

 by proper arrangements in the district where the bushes are found 



