792 
INDIAN MEDICINAL HANTS. 
of the bark and met with success, after every other medicine 
had been tried. 
He employed a decoction (Bark two ounces, Water Oii. 
boiled to Oi.). Doses of four drachms, four times a day, with 
the addition of one drop of Tr. Opii to each dose. Dr. Gibson 
states that he has employed it extensively as an antiperiodic. 
It has, however, fallen into disrepute, principally, according to 
Sir Walter Elliot, who regards it as one of the most valuable 
medicinal products of India, from the comparatively or wholly 
inert bark of Wrightia tinctoria , R. Br., a tree very similar in 
general appearance to H. antidysenterica, and known by very 
similar native names, having been often confounded with it. 
This bark and its properties are well deserving of the notice of 
future investigators. It may be prescribed in decoction (eight 
ounces, water two pints boiled to one pint), in doses of one ounce 
and a half or two ounces twice or thrice daily ; but Mr. Odoy 
Chund Dutt prefers a watery extract of the rootbark, of which the 
average dose is about three grains, in combination with half a grain 
or more of opium. The boat-shaped seeds ( Anderjow of the Taleef 
Shereef, No. 75), are also highly valued by the native^ of India 
in dysenteric cases. They are narrow, elongated, about h'alf an 
inch in length, of a cinnamon brown colour, convex on one side, 
concave and marked with a longitudinal pale line on the other, 
easily broken, of a bitter taste, and heavy unpleasant odour. 
They are often confounded with the seeds of Wrightia tinctoria, 
Roxb., to which they bear a general resemblance. According to 
Ainslie (Mat. Ind., vol. ii., p. 483), an infusion of the roasted 
seeds is a gentle and safe astringent in bowel complaints, and is 
given to allay the vomiting of cholera. In the Taleef Shereef, 
the infusion is said to be effectual in arresting haemorrhage 
from piles. Anthelmintic virtues are also assigned to them. 
During the last cattle plague epidemic at Backergunge (Bengal) 
they were extensively employed, being regarded as possessing 
certain specific virtues ( Indian Med. Gaz., 1866, vol. i., p. 352). 
The results are not stated. 
The seeds are considered by the Arabic and Persian writers 
as possessed of carminative and astringent properties, and are 
