VITEX NEGUNDO 193 



veloped in a sheet or blanket. If necessary the pot may be re- 

 moved 2 or 3 times, heated and replaced until abundant sweating 

 is induced. An apparatus to conduct the steam under the chair 

 would be much handier, but it is unsafe to place a small stove 

 or lamp under the chair for fear of setting fire to the cloth. 



In India and the Philippines there is a peculiar inflamma- 

 tion localized in the soles of the feet and characterized by an 

 intense burning rather than pain, not described in the text- 

 books, but called by the natives " burning of the feet " (" quema- 

 dura del pi6" or "ignipedites"); in our own experience and 

 according to the consensus of the physicians of India, the ap- 

 plication of these leaves 3 or 4 times a day to the soles of the 

 feet has afforded marked relief. The leaves are heated in an 

 earthen pot without the addition of water, and when sufii- 

 ciently hot are applied and held in place by a bandage. 



Dr. W. Ingledew states that the natives of Mysore (south of 

 India) treat rheumatism and febrile catarrhs by steam baths of 

 the decoction of vitex. A decoction of the'leaves is in common 

 use in the Philippines, Malay Islands and India as a bath for 

 women in the puerperal state. 



The dry leaves are smoked for headache and catarrh. Ac- 

 cording to creditable authority the application of the heated 

 leaves in orchitis produces good results. The root is tonic, feb- 

 rifuge and expectorant and the fruit nervine and emmenagogue 

 according to the Sanscrit writer. 



Botanical Description.— V trifalia is a small tree, 3-4 

 meters high. The fruit and leaves are said to emit the odor of 

 rosemary. Leaves ternate. Leaflets oval, entire, hoary be- 

 low, no secondary petioles. Flowers purplish in forked pan- 

 icle. Corolla bell-shaped with palate. The lower lip 3-lobed, 

 the middle lobe larger ; upper lip smaller, 2-lobed. Stamens 

 4, free, didynamous. Ovary free. Style simple, with stigma- 

 bearing lobules. Berry-like drupe, with 4-celled nut, one seed 

 in each cell. 



