200 
DOLICHOS PRURIENS. 
length of the vexillum; the cariwa is scythe-shaped, the length of 
the alze, compressed, and furnished with a short concave spur at 
each side of the apex ; the filaments are ten, nine of which are 
united at the base : they are alternately long and short, the former 
are four times broader than the latter, and furnished with incumbent 
anthers ; the anthers of the latter are placed vertically ; the germen 
is oblong, villous, and supports a slender style, about the length of 
the filaments, terminated by a small orbicular stigma ; the fruit is a 
coriaceous pod, about four or five inches long, curved like the letter 
S, thickly covered with brown bristly hairs, and containing from four 
to six ovate, compressed seeds, of a brownish colour. 
The natives of India use the pods of this plant as an article of 
food, and the Tamool doctors employ the roots medicinally.* The 
pods we receive are chiefly imported from the West Indies, and come 
to us in their dry state ; the sharp hairs with which they are thickly 
beset, readily penetr;ite the skin if incautiously handled, and occa- 
sions the most intolerable itching. The sharp hairs, or spiculaj of 
the pods, are the only part of the plant medicinally employed in 
this country. They have no particular sensible property, having 
neither taste nor odour. 
Medical Properties and Uses. The spiculaj of the pods 
operate as a mechanical anthelmintic, and have been long employed 
by the West Indian practitioners as a safe and efficacious vermifuge, 
especially for expelling the round worm (Lumbricus Teres). The 
best mode'of exhibiting this medicine is, to mix the spiculae, or 
hairs, with syrup, or molasses, to the consistence of a thin electuary, 
of which a tea-spoonful to a child of two or three years old, and 
double the quantity to an adult, is a proper dose ; this may be given 
in the morning fasting, and repeated the two succeeding moi'nings, 
after which a dose of some gentle cathartic, almost invariably brings 
away a number of worms. Not only the round worm, but every 
kind known to infest the primie via3, has been expelled by this 
medicine. Cowhage appears to act purely mechanically, by piercing 
the worms, and sticking in their bodies, for a decoction or tincture 
of the spiculae do not possess the smallest anthelmintic property.f 
In India, the Tamool practitioners prescribe an infusion of the roots 
in cholera morbus. 
Off. The Hairs of the Dolichos pod. 
• Aiaslie'si Materia Indica, vol. i. p. 93. 
t Murraj-'s App. Med. vol. i. p. 144. 
