N. 0. ANACARDIACE^. 381 



laxative ; used to relieve thirst, burning of the body and fever. 

 (Dutt). 



The seed is very palatable and nutritious when roasted ; 

 used in medicine and considered heating (Irvine, Med. Top., 

 A j mere). 



It yields a gum said to be administered in diarhcea. The 

 oil extracted from the kernels of the fruit is used as a substi- 

 tute for almond oil in Native medicinal preparations and con- 

 fectionery. It is also applied to glandular swellings of the 

 neck (Watt). 



In the Jhansi District, the kernel worked up into an 

 ointment, is used in skin diseases. 



In the Central Provinces, the roots and leaves, pounded and 

 mixed with butter-milk, are taken in cases of diarrhoea. The 

 fruit is used by Hakims in tonic medicines and for applying to 

 the tongue when inflamed or very hard. 



It is believed to cure pimples, prickly heat and itch. 

 In Berar, kernels pounded and applied outwardly are 

 used as a remedy for itch ; also employed by women to remove 

 spots and blemishes from the face. (The Agricultural Ledger, 

 1900, No. 9.) 



In the Bombay Presidency, the kernel is employed as a 

 tonic, being sometimes substituted for the almond. 



In the Madras Presidency, the gum with goat's milk is given 

 internally for intercostal pains. 



It is used to flavour preserved preparations of milk, such as 

 Berfi, Basundi, Pedhe, Halva of the white gourd ; preserved 

 cocoanut sweets, such as Khobripak, in Bombay, Surat, 

 Ahmed abad, Poona. 



The kernels are brown and mottled with darker brown, and laterally com- 

 pressed like vetch seeds. They yield 58*6 per -cent, of oil (Church), which 

 commences to congeal into a white semisolid mass at 18-5°. 



Crossley and Le Sueur obtained the following constants : Specific gravity 

 at 100°, 0-8942; melting point, 32°; acid value, 15*4; saponification value, 

 193*6; iodine value, 57*3; Reichert-Meissl value, 0*33; refractive index, 

 1*4584 ; insoluble acids and unsaponifiable, 95*8 per cent. 



329. — Melanorrhcea usitata, Wall, h.f.b.l, ii. 25, 

 Ertg. :— The Varnish Tree. 



