130 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
5, erect ; anthers 2-celled, introrse, bursting by slits. Style 
glabrous. Ovary pubescent, sessile, incompletely 2-3-celled. 
Ovules 2 or more on each placenta. Capsule glabrous, | in. 
diam.; pisiform, woody 2-rarely 3-valved ; valves coriaceous, 
placentiform in the middle. Seeds 1-4, occasionally numerous, 
smooth, embedded in a pulp. 
Uses : — The bark is bitter and aromatic, and is said by 
natives of the Western Ghats to possess narcotic properties. It 
is used in doses of 5 to 10 grs. as a febrifuge, and in doses of 
50 grs , is believed to be a specific for snake poisoning ; 5 to 
10 grain doses of the dried bark given with benefit in chronic 
bronchitis. It is a good expectorant, but in one or two cases 
in which it was tried in Bombay, it gave rise to dysenteric 
diarrhoea (Pharmaco. Indica). 
The late M. C. Periera of Bandra, an Assistant in the 
Bombay Medical Stores, used to prepare a tincture of the bitter 
bark. In exhibiting a specimen of the Tincture at the Thera- 
peutical Section of the International Medical Congress of 
Australasia, held in Melbourne in January 1889, Surgeon Major 
K. R. Kirtikar said thus: — “The tincture contains a volatile 
011 which is said to act as an antiseptic and stimulant to the 
mucous membrane of the bronchi. The dose of the tincture 
is a drachm and a half, thrice daily in water or honey.” 
(See p. 948, Proceedings of the Second Session of the Australa- 
sia Congress.,) 
In Travancore, half-a-teaspoonful doses are given internally 
in leprons affections, and the oil beaten up with the kernels 
and shells of castor oil seeds, is used as a remedy for itch, 
(Dymock.) 
In physiological action, the oil is alterative, tonic, and a 
local stimulant, and appears also to have a specific effect on certain 
skin diseases. It has been recommended for trial as a local 
application in rheumatism, leprosy, sprains and bruises, scia- 
tica, chest affections and phthisis, ophthalmia, and the various 
forms of skin diseases- Internally it may be prescribed in 
doses of from 15 minims to 2 drachms in cases of leprosy, 
various forms of cutaneous disease, secondary syphilis and 
