Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1888. 
The  Genus  Luffa. 
335 
layer  is  smoother  and  softer  than  the  inner  layer,  which  is  harder  and 
rougher  from  the,  both  longitudinal  and  transverse,  direction  of  the 
fibres,  and  from  the  projection  of  the  placental  tissues  ;  hence  the 
inner  side  is  more  effective  for  friction. 
While  the  fruit  in  its  pulpy  portion  has  mainly  a  mucilaginous, 
not  very  inviting  taste,  it  is  to  some  extent  used  as  a  food  by  the  poor 
people  of  Eastern  Africa.  The  fruit  of  Luffa  Petola,  Seringe,  is 
eaten  in  China  and  in  some  of  the  East  India  islands,  and  of  the  East 
India  species  Roxburgh  mentions  Luffa  pentandra  and  L.  acutangula 
of  which  the  unripe  fruit  is  edible.  The  last  named  species  is  more 
widely  distributed  than  any  other  of  the  same  genus,  being  indigenous 
not  only  to  Southern  Asia,  as  far  northward-  as  Afghanistan,  but 
likewise  to  the  West  Indies  and  to  South  America  as  far  as  Brazil. 
In  the  West  Indies  it  is  commonly  known  as  strainer -vine,  very  likely 
in  allusion  to  the  use  made  of  the  fibrous  frame-work  of  the  fruit. 
A  variety  of  this,  or  a  closely  allied  species,  is  Luffa  amara,  Roxburgh, 
which  has  also  a  cucumber-like  fruit,  about  four  inches  in  length  and 
provided  with  ten  sh^rp  longitudinal  ridges  or  angles.  The  entire 
plant  has  a  very  bitter  taste,  more  particularly  the  leaves,  which, 
according  to  Prof.  Dymock,  are  used  as  an  external  application  to 
sores  in  cattle.  The  fruit  is  cathartic  and  emetic,  and  in  the  form  of 
powder  is  used  as  a  snuff  in  jaundice,  while  the  juice  of  the  roasted 
young  fruit  is  applied  to  the  temples  to  cure  headache. 
Luffa  Bindaal,  Roxburgh,  is  regarded  in  Northern  India  as  a 
powerful  remedy  in  dropsy,  and  Luffa  echinata,  Roxburgh,  is  stated 
by  Dymock  to  be  employed  in  India  as  a  remedy  for  colic,  for  cholera 
and  for  snake  bite,  the  bitter  fibrous  contents  of  the  fruit,  which  is 
of  the  size  of  a  nutmeg,  being  given  in  substance  or  in  the  form  of 
infusion. 
Bentham  and  Hooker  recognize  ten  species  of  the  genus  Luffa,  of 
which  only  one  is  indigenous  to  America.  However,  in  addition  to 
Luffa  acutangula,  mentioned  above,  several  other  American  plants  are 
at  least  closely  related  to  the  same  genus.  For  instance,  Momordica 
operculata,  Linn^,  is  regarded  by  Grisebach  as  a  variety  of  Momordica 
Charantia,  Linne,  and  is  Luffa  operculata,  Cogniaux,  and  of  other 
botanists  ;  in  Brazil  it  is  known  as  buchinha,  the  fruit  being  used  for 
its  powerful  hydragogue  cathartic  properties.  (See  Amer.  Jour. 
Phar.,  1830,  p.  144,  1884,  p.  623.) 
The  fruit  of  the  Egyptian  luffa  was  chemically  examined  by  R.  J; 
