1841.] ihe Pundeelah River. 5 1 5 



Articles of the Materia Medica. 

 Justicia Paniculata (Creyat). — This drug, which forms the active 

 ingredient of the celebrated French nostrum Drogue-amere, grows 

 in great abundance here. It is an excellent bitter and febrifuge. 



Strychnos Potatorum. — This tree is found in the jungles ; the 

 peculiar property possessed by its seeds of rendering turbid water 

 clear, might perhaps be turned to some account in the arts. It possi- 

 bly depends on Bassorine, known to be an ingredient in the seed 

 of more than one of its congeners. The Nux vomica tree is very com- 

 mon, as is also the Celastris paniculata, the seeds of which yield the 

 celebrated black oil, (Oleum nigrum,) of Dr. Herklots. Two or three 

 mucilaginous roots were shown me ; one of these was that of Asparagus 

 acerosus, another was most probably the root of the Curculigo orchi- 

 odes. The Asclepias procera was, as usual, very common, likewise the 

 Asclepias pseudosarsa, country Sarsaparilla. The tuberous roots of 

 two wild species of Dioscorea were brought ; one of these, Dioscorea 

 oppositifolea, has been found to yield a good arrow-root. 



Dyes. — The Oldenlandia Umbelata (Cherwil) grows wild here, as 

 well as in the Hunumkondah Sircar. The bark of the Morinda ex- 

 erta, which grows in the jungle, is also employed to dye red. A sug- 

 gestion lately made by Mr. Solly of London, of making extracts of dye 

 woods and barks, would be applicable to a bulky material like the 

 present. The Crotum plicatum grows in great luxuriance on the allu- 

 vial soil on the banks of the rivers. 



Timber. — Madhapore is the great depot for timber, chiefly teak, that 

 is floated down by the rivers from the Nagpore country. Ebony trees are 

 found in the jungle to the south of this. The Schrebera Swietienoides, the 

 wood of which is said not to warp, grows to be a fine tree, and is abun- 

 dant. All the valuable timber trees mentioned in my last letter, are to 

 be met with. 



Cordage. — The common Sunn plant, the Crotolaria juncea, is cul- 

 tivated, and its fibres are made use of for many purposes as hemp. The 

 fibres of the inner bark of two species of Bauhinia are twisted and 

 used as rope, particularly by the Brinjarries ; the inner bark of the 

 Butea superba is also employed for the same purpose. I send a spe- 

 cimen of the rope made from the last. 



The Asclepias Tenacissima of Roxburgh is found here. It is well 

 known to yield very strong fibres, the strongest indeed of any plant 



