N. O. CONVOLVULiCE^. 875 



Vern. : — Nil-kulmi (B.) ; The seeds are sold as Kala danah ; 

 Mirehai (H. and B.) ; Kodi-kakkatan Virai (Tarn.); Banura 

 (U.-.P.), Bildi, Ker, Kirpawa, Phapru-sag, Isbpecba (Ph.) ; 

 Hub-ul-nil (Sind.) ; Kali-zirki ; Zirki (Dec.) ; Kala danri (Guz.); 

 Kolli-vittulu (Tel.) ; Gauribija (Kan.). 



Moodeen Sheriff says the Deccan name Kali-zirki should be exclusively 

 applied to the seeds of this plant, but they have also caused great ambiguity 

 by being applied to the seed of Clitora Ternatea, Linn. 



Habitat : — India ; both cultivated and apparently wild. 



Stem twining, sparsely, retrosely hirsute. Leaves 2-5in. 

 diara., ovate-cordate, 3-lobed ; lobes ovate acuminate, petiole 

 l-4in. Peduncle, 1-5-fid, mostly shorter than the petioles. Pedi- 

 cels usually i'm. ; bracts 2, fin., linear, close to the Calyx. 

 Sepals i-lin., subequal, norrowly linear upwards, very hirsute, 

 or nearly. Corolla-tube narrow. l£-2in., funnel-shaped, rose- 

 coloured, or somewhat orange below. Anthers included, never 

 twisted. Ovary 3-celled, 6-ovuled. Capsule 3-celled ; |ip>, 

 ovoid, subglobose smooth. Seeds 4-6, glabrous (C. B. Clarke). 



Uses. — The author of the Makhzan-ul-Adwiya says that this 

 drug is a drastic purgative, useful in the treatment of bilious and 

 phlegmatic humours, and that it acts also as an anthelmintic. 

 Roxburgh was the first to make these seeds known to European 

 physicians, and it may be said they now hold an important 

 position as a useful and cheap substitute for jalap. They 

 were made officinal in the Pharm. India in 1868, in which will 

 be found directions to prepare the forms in which the drug is 

 now administered, namely : in the form of a tincture, an extract, 

 a compound powder, or a resin, supplying the place of the cor- 

 responding preparations of jalap. The resin appears to be the 

 most satisfactory form of administering the medicine, the dose 

 of which is 4 to 8 grains. This substance is known as Pharbitis. 



"The powder of the seeds is very useful in Lepra, tubercu- 

 losa, &c. The infusion is demulcent" (London Exhibition, 

 1862). 



The seeds yield 8 per cent, of resin, resembling the convolvulin of jalap 

 tubers, and 14 per cent, of fat. The seeds are comparatively rich in albuminous 

 substance, and the presence of a nauseous tasting fat is a disadvantage in a 

 medicine administered internally, and interferes with the separation of the 

 resinous active principle. 



