H04 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLAKTS. 



cence more or less pubescent, sometimes almost glabrous. 

 Leaves subterminal on branches, alternate, 3-6in., thin oblong 

 glabrous above, sparingly pubescent beneath ; tip acute, obtuse 

 or rounded ; nerves 8-10 or 12 pair, joined by finely reticulate 

 veins. Petiole |-2in. long. Flowers in umbels, corymbose or 

 racemose, usually long pedicelled, few or many, |in. before 

 opening, white or yellowish ; perianth very incomplete, or 0. 

 Pedicels clustered on a stout or slender common Peduncle, J-3in. 

 long. Bracts 4, more or less tomentose. Stamens 9-20 or more, 

 filaments clothed with long, soft hairs. Fruit Jin. diam., pea- 

 sized, globose, on the small thickened perianth-tube. 



Uses : — The feebly balsamic, mucilaginous bark is one of the 

 best known and most popular of native drugs. Dymock states 

 that it does not appear to have been mentioned by Sanskrit 

 writers, and is only briefly noticed in Muhammadan works. 

 He considers it probable that the drug has been adopted 

 by Muhammadan physicians in India as a substitute for an 

 Arabian drug, called Maghath, the botanical source of which 

 is uncertain. At the present time it is largely employed as a 

 demulcent and mild astringent in diarrrhoea and dysentery. 

 According to Irvine, it is also esteemed as an aphrodisiac in 

 Patna. Fresh ground, it is used either dry, or triturated in 

 water or milk, as an emollient application to bruises, and as a 

 styptic dressing for wounds. It is also supposed to be anodyne, 

 and to act as a local antidote to the bites of venomous animals. 



The oil from the berries is used in rheumatism ; the leaves 

 are mucilaginous and have a pleasant odour of cinnamon 

 (Watt). 



Chem. comp. — This bark, an authentic specimen of which was supplied 

 by Mr. Hollingsworth of the Madras Medical College, gave, on an air- 

 dried sample, 4°6 per cent, of ash, and 142 per cent, of alcoholic extract, 

 affording very strong reactions with alkaloidal tests. On separating the 

 alkaloid, it was found to agree with the characters of Laurotetanine, an 

 alkaloid which has been discovered by M. Greshoff in three species of Litsaea 

 in Java, and in several other plants of the natural order Laurinese. Lauro- 

 tetanine is crystalline, and has a strong tetanic action on animals ; it is 

 sparingly soluble in ether, more readily in chloroform. It is precipitated by 

 sodium carbonate from solutions of its salts, but readily redissolves in an 

 excess of potash or soda, and is precipitated by the usual alkaloidal reagents. 



