N. O. M £LIAOE£. 
303 
Planted everywhere in Ceylon ; Southern and Western India. 
Wild in the sub-Himalaya bract, Burma, cultivated in Dun and 
Shaharanpur Districts, common along Siwalik Hills. 
Parts used : — Every part of this plant, except tbe wood, is 
used in medicine, namely, the bark, root- bark, young fruit, nuts 
or seeds, oil, flowers, leaves, gum and toddy. 
“ Physiological Actions . — The physiological actions of all 
the parts of this plant employed as drugs may be arranged as 
follows : — 
“ The root-bark, bark and young fruit — tonic and anti- 
periodic. 
“ The oil, nuts, and leaves — local stimulant, insecticide, 
and antiseptic. 
“ The flowers — stimulant-tonic and stomachic. 
“ The gum.— demulcent-tonic. 
“ The toddy-— refrigerant, nutrient and alterative tonic. 
“ Therapeutic Uses . — The bark, root-bark, and young fruit 
are useful in some slight cases of intermittent fever and general 
debility. The root-bark is more active and speedy in its action 
than the bark and young fruit. The margosa oil has proved 
itself a useful local remedy in some chronic forms of skin 
diseases and ulcers, by stimulating and exciting a healthy 
action. Applied to foul and sloughing ulcers, it retards the 
sloughing process to some extent, prevents tbe production of 
maggots, and dislodges them if already produced. The oil is 
also a very useful adjunct to some other and stronger remedies, 
as chaulmugra oil, as already mentioned in my remarks under 
the latter drug The dry nuts of M. Azadirachta possess almost 
the same medical properties as the oil, but they require to be 
bruised and mixed with water or some other liquid before they 
can be applied to the skin or ulcers ; and their use, is therefore, 
attended with so much inconvenience that they cannot be 
resorted to at all, except in those places where the oil is not 
procurable. A strong , decoction of the fresh leaves is a slight 
antiseptic, and is useful like a weak carbolic lotion in washing 
