1240 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



cardamoms, cinnamon and sugar. The talispatra also enters 

 into the preparation of numerous complex prescriptions. (U. C. 

 Dutt's Hindu Mat. Med.) Dr. F. Hamilton says the Hindu 

 Doctors of Behar use an infusion of talispatra in the treatment 

 of hoarseness. Hakims affirm that the gum, mixed with oil of 

 roses, when taken internally, produces intoxication. This mix- 

 ture is used externally for headache, neuralgia, &c. The juice 

 of the fresh leaves is used as a family medicine in fevers, 

 acting as an anti-periodic, for infants, dose 5-10 drops in water 

 or mother's milk. It is also prescribed in affections of the chest 

 and duriug dentition. In Bengal, it is given as a tonic after 

 parturition. 



N. 0. ORCHIDEiE. 



1224. Dendrobium Macraei, Lindl., H. F.B.I. , v. 714. 



Vern. : — Joivanti Jiban, Sag (H.) ; Jibai, Jibanti(B.j ; Jivanti 

 (M. and G.). 



Habitat :— Sikkim Himalaya, Khasia hills, Deccan, Kanara, 

 Nilgiri Hills. 



Rootstock creeping annulate. Stems pendulous 2-oft., 

 branches ending in fusiform pseudo bulbs 2-2 Jin. long. 

 Leaves 4-8in., linear-oblong, obtuse, sessile. Flowers 2-3, shortly 

 peduncled, f-lin. long, white ; pedicels f-lin. long. Sepals and 

 petals erecto-patent linear-lanceolate acute, mentum short conic. 

 Bracts basal, sheathing ; side-lobes of lip oblong obtuse, 

 sprinkled with red ; mid-lobe variable, small with 2 diverging 

 lobules crenulate and crisped, disk between the side-lobes with 

 2 fleshy crests. 



Uses : — This plant is the Jivanti of Sanskrit writers. In the 

 Nighantas it bears the synonyms of Jivani, " life-giving," Jiva 

 ''life-giving," Jivaniya "supporting life," Jiva-sreshtha, Saka- 

 srestha " best of herbs," and Yasas-vini " renowned." It is 

 also spoken of as Jiva-bhadra and Mangalaya "auspicious," and 

 is described as cold, mucilaginous, light, strengthening, and 

 tridosha-ghna, i.e., a remedy for the disorder of the three 

 humors of the body, bile, blood and phlegm, known to Hindu 



