THE BAEL FRUIT AND ITS PROPERTIES. 397 
seeds, a large quantity of tenacious transparent gluten, which becomes 
hard on drying, but continues transparent. The fruit is nutritious and 
occasionally employed as an alterative. It is very palatable and its 
aperient qualities in the removal of habitual costiveness have been well 
ascertained. 
The statements we find in works on Oriental ' Materia IMedica ' are 
very various as to the qualities of this tree and its products. 
Kheede says, decoction of the bark of the root is considered in Malabar, 
to be very useful in hypochondriacs, melancholy and palpitation of the 
heart ; and that the leaves are used in decoction in asthmatic com- 
plaints ; — the same author adds that the unripe fruit is of use in diarrhoea. 
Among the Javanese the fruit is deemed very astringent, Roxburgh 
correctly states the fruit to be delicious to the taste and very fragrant. 
In the ' Asiatic Researches,' vol. ii. p. 349., we find it stated that the 
fruit is nutritious, warm, and cathartic, its taste delicious and its fragrance 
exquisite, its aperient and detersive qualities, and its efficacy in removing 
habitual costiveness have been proved by constant" experience. The 
mucus of the seeds is used as an excellent addition to mortar, especially 
in wall building. The bark of the root is given in compound decoctions 
in intermittent fevers, and the leaves made into poultices in ophthalmia. 
When dried before it is ripe the fruit is used in decoction against diarrhoea 
and dysentery ; and when ripe and mixed with juice of tamarinds, forms 
an agreeable drink. A water distilled from the flowers is reported to be 
alexipharmic. A decoction of the ashy giey bark of the tree is given in 
palpitation of the heart, and a decoction of the leaves in asthma. A 
yellow dye is procured from the astringent rind. 
From a paper read by Dr. Bennett, in Sydney, at the Acclimatisation 
Society's meeting, and a discussion upon it, it appears that fruits of 
the bael tree have been received by Mr. Moore, of the Botanic Garden, 
and that jams, and some of the usual medical preparations, have been 
made from them by Mr. Norrie ; the seed contained in them were 
supposed not ripe enough to germinate ; but a case of living plants 
had been written for by Mr. Moore. The tree, it is supposed, will 
grow at Port Macquarie and in Queensland, but not in Sydney, for want 
of sufficient heat. Shipments of the fruit, in a proper state, can readily 
be obtained there from Ceylon, by the monthly mail steamers. The 
whole tree, roots, bark, leaves, and fruit, it has been seen, contain medical 
properties of great value in diarrhoea, dysentery, incipient fever, &c. It 
is administered usually as a decoction or infusion. Its effects are to 
gently regulate and restore the tone of the bowels, acting as a tonic and 
astringent in cases of diarrhoea, and as a laxative in cases of constipation. 
Its use has been common in India and Ceylon" for centuries, and it is 
there relied on as a certain specific for dysentery. 
