32 
OF THE CALAGIRAH CALAGERI OF INDIA. 
ART. VII.— OF THE CALAGIRAH OR CALAGERI OF INDIA, 
VERMIFUGE SEEDS PREFERRED TO THE SEMEN CON- 
TRA. By J. J. ViREY. 
There has been sent to us from Calcutta, under the denomi- 
nations of Calageri, or Calagirah. some very small black seeds, 
which are bitter, of a slightly aromatic odour, and contain 
volatile oil; their form is polygonous, acute at their inferior ex- 
tremities. We have determined them to belong to a plant of the 
family Composite, division Cori/mbiferse, {S^nanthereae, of 
H. Cassini,) and Syngenesia^ Polygamia Super Jlua, of 
Linnaeus. It is an annual herb, about five feet in height, with 
a straight, cylindrical, striated stem, filled with medullary 
substance. Its leaves are alternate, oval, lanceolate, acute^ 
largely dentate. The flowers are of a purplish colour, showy; 
supported on simple peduncles and terminate the stalk, they 
have ligulate calycine scales; the florets are hermaphrodite.* 
This plant which on account of its properties enjoys great 
celebrity in the East Indies, has been placed in the genus 
Conyza, L. It has been figured by Van Rheede,t by Bur- 
mann,:j: and described by Vaillant.§ It has been culti- 
vated in the Garden of Plants in Paris, and is susceptible of 
being acclimated in France. It is the Vernonia anthelmin- 
tica of Willdenow,|| the Ascaricida anthelmintica of Cas- 
sini.lf . ■ ' ■ 
In effect this bitter plant has been recommended in decoc- 
* Conyza foliis lanceolato-ovatis, serratis, seabris, pedunculis unijloris, caly- 
cibus squarrosis. 
I Hortus Malabar, torn. 2, p. 39 plate 24. Cattu-schiragam of the 
Hindoos. 
Thesaurus zeylanic, p. 210, tab. xcv. 
§ Mem. Acad. Sc. Paris, an. 1719. 
II Cultivated in the green house, under this name, at the Garden of Plants, 
it flowers in September. 
♦[ This genus has also been adopted by M. Decandolle, Prodr. torn. 5. 
