N. 0. COMPOSITE. 725 



in combination with manna, aniseed and carbonate of magnesia, 

 or with stimulants and aromatics, (Ph. J. for Sept. 1., 1888, 

 p. 162). 



The root and leaves are used by the natives of Bengal in 

 infusion, as a tonic and febrifuge, (Irvine.) 



" Its hollow thick stems are full of a milky juice, which renders it a very 

 acceptable food to most animals— pigs, sheep, and rabbits are particularly fond 

 of it. It has also been used as an article of diet by men from a very early date. 

 It is recorded by Pliny that Hecate regaled Theseus, before his encounter 

 with the bull of Marathon, upon a dish of Sow-thistles. The ancients consi- 

 dered them very wholesome and strengthening, and administered the juice 

 medicinally for many disorders, **. In Germany, the leaves are put into 

 salads, ** " [Sowerby's English Botany, Vol. V., p. 153]. 



697. S. arvensis, Linn., h.f.b.l, in. 414. 



Syn. : — S. orixensis, Roxb. 593. 



Vern. : — Sahadevi bari r v H.) ; Bhangra, kala bhangra (Pb.) ; 

 Ban-palang (B.) ; Nalla-tapata (Tel.) ; Birbarangou (Santal). 



Habitat : — Throughout India ; wild in cultivated places, 

 scarce in the plains, common in the Khasia and Himalaya. 



Annual milky herb, glabrous towards the base, glandular 

 hairy upwards. Root-stock creeping. Stem 3-4ft., glabrous, tall, 

 hollow, angular, umbellately branched above. Leaves nearly ra- 

 dical pinnatifid, 4-6in., lobes pointing downward, teeth small, 

 basal lobes rounded, appressed to the stem. " Leaves," says J. D. 

 Hooker, " runcinate pinnatifid, spinous toothed, cauline J-am- 

 plexicaul, with appressed rounded auricles, uppermost linear. 

 Heads l-2in. diam (Simla 1 *. " Heads and peduncles, " says J. D. 

 Hooker, " glandular hispid." Achenes narrow, subcompressed, 

 with thick regular ribs on each face. 



Use : — Cattle are fond of every part of the plant. On being 

 wounded, there is mucli milky juice discharged, which thickens 

 into a substance like fresh soft opium (Roxburgh). 



Similar to Lactuca scariola, Linn., in medicinal properties 

 (Watt). 



Among the Santals the root is given in jaundice, (Revd. 

 A. Campbell). 



