382 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
Vern. : — Khen (Manipur) ; Soothan (Tel.) ; Thitni (Bur- 
mese). 
Habitat : — Manipur. 
A large, deciduous tree. Bark dark grey. Wood dark red, 
with yellowish streaks turning very dark after long exposure ; 
very hard. Branchlets very stout velvety. Petioles, underside 
of leaves, and panicles softly tomentose. Leaves obovate or 
oblanceolate ; 6-14 by 4-6in., base cnneate ; nerves 28-30 pair, 
stout, straight. Petiole flattened, winged, ^-lin. Panicles 1ft. 
long, peduncled. Flowers white, lax, ^in. diam. ; pedicels 
slender ; petals pubescent. Stamens many, 20-30. Calyx 
calyptriform, beaked, pubescent. Petals 5-6, eventually 2-4in. 
long, linear-oblong, obtuse, coriaceous, reticulated, gland-dotted, 
pubescent. Drupe red, glaucous; j-jin. diani., stalk thick, 
■jin. long, supported by the oblong, stel lately-spreading, 
enlarged petals, 2-4in. long. Pedicel |in. The tree yields 
the black Burmese lacquer or varnish from incisions made into 
the bark, while the tree is in leaf (Brandis). 
Use : — The thick, greyish fluid, which is found in every 
part of the plant, has been used in medicinS as an anthelmintic 
with great success. If the juice be too much handled, it causes 
erysipelas-like swellings in certain constitutions, which are 
cured by the application of an infusion of teakwood. 
Separation of Constituents. 
Pure Thitsi extracted with hot alcohol. 
Residue shaken with dry ether Alcoholic extract contains Urnnhir arid 
nd filtered. (about 85 per cent.) 
Residue boiled with water. Filtrate, distilled, dried and again 
| extracted with hot alcohol. 
Residue oily or fatty matlrr Extract contains last traces of 
(small quantity). Urvshic acid. 
Final residue is Diastatic matter Aqueous ex tract contains Oum. 
(about 2 per cent). (Total (Gives the ordinary reactions 
nitrogen in this diastase — 4*7 of gum arabic. Amount about 
per cent.) 3 per cent.) 
