N. O. AROIbEAS. 
1339 
Tlie tubers contain an acrid juice which should be got rid 
of by through boiling and washing, otherwise the vegetable 
is apt to cause troublesome irritation in the mouth and fauces. 
Medicinally it is considered serviceable in haemorrhoids ; in fact, 
one of its Sanskrit synonyms is arshghn a, or the curer of piles. 
It is administered in this disease in a -variety of forms. The 
tuber is covered witli a layer of earth and roasted in a fire ; 
the raosted vegetable is given with the addition of oil and salt. 
(U. C. Dutt.) 
It has a mucilaginous taste and is faintly bitter,® and acrid ; 
it is supposed to have restorative powers and is in much request. 
(Dymock). 
The root used in boils and ophthalmia ; also as emmenagoue 
(Lindley). 
Dr. Nasarvanji Fakirji Surveyor, M.D., B.S.C., M.A., M.U.C.P., a distingu- 
ished Graduate of the Bomhay University, writes : “ The wild variety (under 
microscope,) shows two forms of crystals, while the cultivated variety shows 
only one form. I shall first describe those crystals which arc found in both the 
varieties and then those found in the wild variety only. Those found in ti e 
former I shall call the white crystals ; while those found in the latter or wild 
variety only will bo described, as brown crystals. The white crystals are 
about 120/^f in length and 3/* in thickness. They are aeicular and glistening 
and have a double contour. They are sharp-pointed at either extremity 
and always straight. They appear to be rigid ; more numerous in the older 
parts, while they are almost absent from the youngest part (e.g., leaf-bud). 
They are insoluble in cold water ; slightly soluble in boiling water. Acetic 
acid dissolves them with evolution of gas ' C 2 probably). 
“ On incinerating a thin lilm of the juice on a slide, these crystals were 
found to be fractured in numerous places, while many appeared to be either 
transversely striated or granular. This was due perhaps to the fact that 
the water of crystallization was driven out by the heat. These crystals 
were found to be scattered about, not collected in definite bundles. They 
wore probably carbonate of calcium. 
“ The brown variety was only found, as has been already remarked, in the 
wild Amorphophallus. These crystals were very fine ; about one-third the size 
of the first. They wore also aeicular, but did not show a double contour. They 
were found in the cells arranged in sheaves, and were distinctly brown when 
viewed in a mass. On adding a drop of water to the juice of the tuber, these 
cells swelled up and discharged the crystals. When examined singly, the 
* It is not at all bitter. It is the tuber of Sauromatum guttatam, Schott, 
which is bitter, and therefore known in the Thana District as Bitter suran.— 
K.R.K. 
| (^= 1^55 of a Millimetre. 
