138  Earth  Sugar  Root  of  the  Tamils.    { An,MJa°iSh.SS.P,n' 
stamina  on  the  receptacle,  which  is  as  long  as  the  tube  of  the  calyx. 
The  most  remarkable  part  of  the  plant  is  the  fruit ;  this  is  a  beaked 
berry  two  to  five  inches  long,  deeply  constructed  between  the  seeds, 
fleshy,  elongate,  moniliform,  one  or  more  seeded.  There  is  only 
one  seed  in  each  single  berry  or  lobe  of  the  compound  fruit.  Rox- 
burgh further  remarks  that  the  Telugu  name  is  Putta-tiga,  and  that 
the  unripe  fruits  are  boiled  and  eaten  by  the  natives. 
The  roots  are  plump  when  fresh,  from  I  to  inch  in  diameter, 
long,  cylindrical,  contorted,  with  a  light  brown  surface.  When 
dried  they  become  darker  in  color  and  wrinkled  longitudinally,  and 
-several  irregularly  disposed  transverse  markings  of  a  lighter  color 
are  observed  on  the  surface.  The  transverse  section  of  the  root 
exhibits  a  central  hard  woody  centre  of  a  yellowish  color,  and 
several  similar  but  smaller  woody  bundles  are  scattered  throughout 
the  waxy  looking  parenchyma  of  the  cortical  portion.  In  the 
bazars  the  drug  is  sold  in  circular  discs,  like  calumba  root,  having 
been  sliced  transversely  when  in  a  fresh  state  and  allowed  to  dry  in 
the  sun  The  taste  is  sweet  and  mawkish,  and  there  is  no  distinc- 
tive odor  as  there  is  in  liquorice  root. 
Earth-sugar  root  is  used  by  Mahomedans  and  Hindus  as  a  sexual 
stimulant  and  tonic,  antisyphilitic  and  alterative.  It  can  be  used 
either  in  a  fresh  or  dried  state.  The  outer  brown  covering  is  sup- 
posed to  be  harmful,  and  is  removed  previous  to  use.  The  way  in 
which  this  and  other  roots  are  purified  before  they  are  taken 
as  medicines,  is  rather  peculiar.  It  consists  in  putting  a  ser  of 
cow's  milk  diluted  with  an  equal  quantity  of  water  into  a  vessel, 
.and  covering  its  mouth  with  a  clean  cloth,  which  is  then  tied  round 
the  neck.  The  bruised  root  is  laid  on  the  cloth  and  covered 
by  another  inverted  vessel.  The  milk  is  then  boiled  and  the  vapor 
is  supposed  to  purify  the  root,  which  is  afterwards  dried,  finely 
powdered  and  kept  ready  for  use. 
I  requested  Dr.  Mootoosawmy  to  make  some  definite  trials  of  the 
drug  on  his  patients,  but  he  has  not  been  able  to  do  this  to  any 
great  extent.  He  gave  the  root  in  a  powdered  state,  in  drachm 
doses,  mixed  with  sugar  candy  for  gonorrhoea  and  syphilitic 
complaints,  and  also  administered  a  decoction  of  the  root.  He 
recommended  a  mixture  of  the  root,  prepared  with  mutton  broth, 
for  patients  suffering  from  chronic  diarrhoea  and  dysentery,  a  pre- 
.scription  used  by  native  physicians.    From  an  analysis  of  the  drug, 
