N. O. PIPERACE/E. 
ion i 
Ginger, of each half an ounce ; Arrack, twenty ounces. Mace- 
rate for seven days and strain. Dose, a drachm twice or 
thrice daily. A powerful stimulant, with probably no special 
claim to notice. The root is in great repute amongst the 
natives of India ; it is the Peepla-mool of the “ Taleef Shereef ” 
(p. 55, No. 275), where it is described as bitter, stomachic and 
useful in promoting digestion. In Travancore, an infusion of 
the root is prescribed after parturition, with the view of causing 
the expulsion of the placenta. It appears to partake, in a 
minor degree, of the stimulant properties of the fruit (Ph. Ind.). 
As an alternative tonic, long pepper is recommended for use 
in a peculiar manner. An infusion of three long peppers is to 
be taken with honey on the first day, then for teii successive 
days the dose is to be increased by three peppers every day, so 
that on the tenth day the patient will take thirty at one dose. 
Then the dose is to be gradually reduced by three daily, and 
finally the medicine is to be omitted. Thus administered, it 
is said to act as a valuable alterative tonic in paraplegia, chronic 
cough, enlargements of the spleen and other abdominal viscera. 
Long pepper enters into the composition of several irritating 
snuffs ; boiled with ginger, mustard oil, buttermilk and curds 
it forms a liniment used in sciatica and paralysis. In the Con- 
can, the roasted aments are beaten up with honey and given in 
rheumatism ; they are also given powdered with black pepper 
and rock salt (two parts of long pepper, three of black, and one 
of salt) in half tola doses in colic. Mahometan writers, under the 
name of Darfilfil, describe long pepper as a resolvent of cold 
humours ; they say it removes obstructions of the liver and 
spleen, and promotes digestion by its tonic properties; more- 
over, it is aphrodisiacal, diuretic, and emmenagogue. Both it 
and the root tFilfil-muiyeh) are much prescribed in palsy, gout, 
lumbago, and other diseases of a similar nature. A collyrium 
of long pepper is recommended for night blindness ; made into a 
liniment, it is applied to the bites of venomous reptiles. (Dymock). 
1079. P. Chaba, Hunter, h.f.b.i., v. 83; Roxb., 
52. 
Sans. :--Chavika. 
