1230 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
the principal interest attached to it having reference to its 
poisonous properties. Thus, the leaves and young branches act 
as a narcotico-acrid poison, both to the' human subject and -to 
certain animals, but more especially to horses and cows. Fatal 
cases of poisoning have also occurred from swallowing the fruit. 
It is frequently stated that animals may feed upon the young 
growing shoots with impunity, but that, when these have been 
cut off, and left upoD the ground for a short time, they are, then, 
poisonous. This is an entirely erroneous notion for yew shoots 
and leaves are poisonous both in a dried and fresh state. It 
seems certain, however, that the red, succulent cup of the fruit 
is harmless, for a fatal case of poisoning has been recorded of a 
child from swallowing the entire fruit with its contained seed ; 
whilst other children, who had partaken of the fruit at the same 
time, but who had rejected all but the fleshy cup, suffered no 
ill-effects.” (Bentley and Trimen.) 
Dr. Dymock informs me that the dried leaves and twigs of 
this plant constitute the talispalr of the Bombay bazars and 
druggists’ shop. While this is, no doubt, correct, it is rather 
surprising that the plant Taxus baccata, in no vernacular, bears 
the name Talisa, a fact that would point to the name talispatr 
as but of modern application. Gamble says : “ the bar, is used 
in Kunawar as a substitute for, or mixed with, tea ; the berries 
are eaten, and the leaves are exported to the plains as a 
medicine.” In Europe, the berries are (as already stated) 
regarded as poisonous, but, in Manipur, I have seen them eaten. 
The tree is common on the mountains bordering on Burma 
and the Naga Hills. A twig is worn by the young unmarried 
Naga females as a charm to prevent pregnancy — chastity being 
exceptional before marriage. It is remarkable that, in Bengal, 
the talispatr, as sold in the bazar, should be an Abies, a plant 
possessed of carminative, expectorant and stomachic properties, 
while, in Bombay, it should be the poisonous leaves of the yew 
which possess emmenagogue, sedative and anti-spasmodic 
properties. See Abies Webbiana. (Watt.) 
In Northern India, the leaves are largely employed for 
medicinal purposes, under the name of birm or brahmi, chiefly 
