ACALYPHA INDICA 219 



corolla much less developed than in the staminate ; ovary free, 

 3 uniovulate loonies; styles 3, bifid. Seed vessel dry, with 

 thin envelope bristling with stiff hairs; 3 carpels each contain- 

 ing a seed. 



Habitat. — Common in Luzon. 



Acalypha Indica, L. (A. OuvUniana, Blanco.) 



NoM. A^'uLG. — -Not known. 

 ^ Uses. — This plant is not used medicinally in the Philip- 

 pines, but is very common in India. Dr. G. Bidie, of Madras, 

 states that the expressed juice of the leaves is in great repute, 

 wherever the plant grows, as an emetic for children and is safe, 

 certain and speedy in its action. Like ipecacuanha it seems 

 to have little tendency to act on the bowels or depress the vital 

 powers, and it decidedly increases the secretion of the pulmonary 

 organs. Probably an infusion of the dried leaves or an extract 

 prepared from the green plant would retain all its active prop- 

 erties. The dose of the expressed juice for an infant is a tea- 

 spoonful. 



Dr. A. E. Ross speaks highly of its use as an expectorant, 

 ranking it in this respect with senega ; he found it especially 

 useful in the bronchitis of children. He also makes favorable 

 report of a cataplasm of the leaves as a local application to 

 syphilitic ulcers and as a means of relieving the pain attendant 

 on the bites of venomous insects. 



The alleged purgative action of the root noticed by Ainslie 

 is confirmed by Dr. H. E. Busteed, who reports having used 

 the expressed juice of the root and leaves as a laxative for 

 children. 



Langley, a military surgeon, states that in Canara the natives 

 employ the leaf juice in congestive headache, soaking pledgets 

 of cotton with it and introducing them into the nasal fossae ; 

 the resultant nose bleed relieves the headache. The powder of 

 the dry leaves is dusted on ulcers and putrid sores. In asthma 



