830 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
783. Cosrnostigma racemosum, Wight., h.f.b.i , 
iv. 46. 
1 ?ern.: — Gharahuvon (Can.); Shendvel, Shendori, Marvel, 
Mdrvivel (Mar.) ; Vattu-valli ! Mai.) ; Gharphul (Goa). 
Habitat : — The Western Ghats, from the Konkan southward. 
Sylhet. Chittagong. Ceylon, low country, rather common. 
A shrubby climber. Stems stout, cylindrical, often len- 
ticillate, glabrous. Leaves 3-5in., ovate, cordate, or rounded 
at base, acuminate, subacute, glabrous pedicels ; cypaes at first 
umbellate or corymbose, but lengthening out into racemes 
2-2$ in. long ; no bracts. Sepals oval, obtuse, ciliolate. Corolla 
greenish-yellow, speckled with red dots ; about lin. diam., 
lobes ovate obtuse. Follicles 2f-3in. Seeds fin., broadly 
ovate (Trimen). “ Corolla fin. diam., fleshy, speckled with 
brown. Follicles 7iu. long by lfin. diam., lanceolate or linear- 
oblong, obtuse, smooth ” (J. D. Hooker). 
Uses This large woody climber, running over high trees, 
has a medicinal reputation on the Western Coast, where its leaves 
are used to cure ulcerous sores, Ghara ( 9T5 ) and the root-bark is 
administered internally in Vataka ( 32^ ) a disease in which 
white lumps of vmdigested food are passed. Useful in dyspepsia 
accompanied by a febrile condition and absence of bile in 
the stools. The authors of the Pharmacographia Indica have 
tried the root-bark of this plant in such cases, given in five 
grain doses, three times a day, and have found it to be a most 
efficient cholagogue ; it had no purgative effect, but restored 
the natural colour of the stools after the usual remedies (mineral 
acids, podophyllin, enonyrium, etc.) had been abandoned in 
despair. The flowers of this plant are sweet and eaten by 
the natives. A biscuit was made with the powder of two ounces 
of the root and given to a dog without any ill effects (Pharma- 
cographia Indica, Vol. II., p. 449.) 
An ether extract of the powdered root contained some free crystalline 
fatty acids, soluble in cold rectified spirit and aqueous alkalies. Petroleum 
ether dissolved the. fatty acids from the extracts, leaving a small quantity of 
an acid resin. An alcoholic extract, in addition to a resin, contained a sugar, 
