46 OKHAMANDAL MARINE ZOOLOGY— PART II 



of the eye, the growth of bad flesh (granulation) on the interior surface of the eyelids 

 and also for piles and leprosy. 



Chank-shell in the form of powder is also stated to be taken internally in South 

 Arcot, Salena, Madura and Tinnevelly, either in water or mixed with ghee, as a specific 

 for skin eruptions, asthma, coughs, and also to cool the system. In Salem and also in 

 Gey Ion it is used as a remedy for consumption. Both in Tanjore and Salem mixed with 

 milk or water it is also employed as a salve or lotion applied to pimples and boils. In 

 Malabar and South Canara, I am told, it is used in the case of rickets (grahani), chank 

 ring powder ground in water being rubbed on the breast. At Tanur a street quack 

 told me he used chank-shell powder internally as a remedy in cases of varchcha (gonorrhoea, 

 I beUeve). 



Among the Tuticorin Parawas a mixture of camphor and chank powder is commonly 

 used to relieve soreness of the eyes. A small piece of camphor is partially burned and 

 then ground down in a small quantity of human milk upon a flat stone by means of a 

 small well-cleaned chank-shell ; a small amount of powder from the shell is thus incor- 

 porated with this pecuhar ointment ; sometimes the white of an egg is substituted 

 for human milk. The ointment thus made is applied round the eyelids ; it is reputed 

 to effect a sure and speedy cure. 



Pounded chank-shell is also given internally by native practitioners in Trichinopoly, 

 Salem and Coimbatore to those who suffer from an acute form of dyspepsia called 

 hunman. It is administered after each meal — a treatment perfectly rational as the 

 carbonate of lime of which the shell is composed is well adapted to counteract 

 hyperacidity of the gastric fluids. 



In Gujarat and Kathiawar chank powder is prescribed as a specific in the following 

 diseases : — Jaundice, phthisis, coughs, shooting pain in the side, general debility and, 

 very commonly, in affections of the eyes. 



With regard to the practice of prescribing it in the case of asthma, cough and con- 

 sumption, a medical friend points out that while of no value in asthma, this treatment 

 has reason for its employment in phthisical cases — the introduction of quantities of lime 

 into the system facilitating the deposit of lime salts around tubercular centres, encap- 

 sulating them and rendering them innocuous. 



In rickets the use of lime taken internally is also indicated emphatically, the 

 disease being characterised by an insufficient deposit of lime in the bones. He also 

 points out that in the case of haemorrhoids, the use of lime administered internally may 

 assist a cure by increasing the coagulative property of the patient's blood. 



It appears therefore that' the employment of chank-shell powder by native prac- 

 titioners is not without reason in regard to certain diseases, and while it may be objected 

 that a non-organic form of carbonate of lime should prove equally beneficial, it has to 

 be remembered that the carbonate of lime of shells is laid down within a delicate frame- 

 work of animal membrane, and this minutely divided form may possibly render it more 



