N. Q. 0ONV0LVULACE.E. 
875 
Fern. : — Nil-kulmi (B.) ; The seeds are sold as Kala danah ; 
Mirchai (H. and B.); Kodi-kakkatan Virai (Tam.); Banura 
(D.-.P.), Bildi, Ker, Kirpawa, Phaprfi-sag, Isbpecha (Pb*); 
Hub-ul-nil (Sind.) ; Kali-zirki; Zirki (Dec.) ; Kala dSna (Guz.) ; 
Kolli-vittulu (Tel.) ; Gauribija (Kan.). 
Moodeen Sheriff says the Deccan name Kali-zirki should be exclusively 
applied to the seeds of this plant, but they have also Caused great ambiguity 
by being applied to tho seed of Clitora Ternatea, Linn. 
Habitat : — India ; both cultivated and apparently wild. 
Stem twining, sparsely, retrosely hirsute. Leaves 2-5in. 
diam., ovate-cordate, 3-lobed ; lobes ovate acuminate, petiole 
l-4in. Peduncle, 1-5-fid, mostly shorter than the petioles. Pedi- 
cels usually £in. ; bracts 2, -yin., linear, close to the Calyx. 
Sepals J-lin., subequal, norrowly linear upwards, very hirsute, 
or nearly. Corolla-tube narrow. 1 f-2in., funnel-shaped, rose- 
coloured, or somewhat orange below. Anthers included, never 
twisted. Ovary 3-celled, 6-ovuled. Capsule 3-celled ; £in., 
ovoid, subglobose smooth. Seeds 4-6, glabrous (C. B. Clarke). 
Uses. — The author of the Makhzan-ul-Adwiya says that this 
drug is a drastic purgative, useful in the treatment of bilious and 
phlegmatic humours, and that it acts also as an anthelmintic. 
Roxburgh was tho first to make these seeds known to European 
physicians, and it may 'be said they now hold an important 
position as a useful and cheap substitute for jalap. They 
were made oflficinal in the Pharm. India in 1868, in which will 
be found directions to prepare the forms in which the drug is 
now administered, namely : in the form of a tincture, an extract, 
a compound powder, or a resin, supplying the place of the cor- 
responding preparations of jalap. The resin appears to be the 
most satisfactory form of administering the medicine, the dose 
of which is 4 to 8 grains. This substance is known as Pharbitis. 
“ The powder of the seeds is very useful in Lepra, tubercu- 
losa, &c. The infusion is demulcent” (London Exhibition, 
1862 ). 
The seeds yield 8 per cent, of resin, resembling the convolvulin of jalap 
tubers, and 14 per cent, of fat. The seeds are comparatively rich in albuminous 
substance, and the presence of a nauseous tasting fat is a disadvantage in a 
medicine administered internally, and interferes with the separation of the 
resinous active principle. 
