OPHELIA  CHIRAYTA.  529 
OPHELIA  CHIRAYTA. 
By  Fluckiger  and  Hohn. 
This  plant  is  little  known  in  Europe,  and  is  not  much  used 
even  in  England,  although  it  has  a  place  in  the  British  Pharma- 
copoeia of  1867,  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  United  States  of  1866. 
But  in  India  Chirayta  has  long  been  in  high  repute,  and  is 
generally  sold  in  the  bazaars.  It  is  also  mentioned  among  the 
large  numbers  of  medicinal  agents  comprised  in  the  Systema 
Medicinae''  of  Susrutas,  about  ten  centuries  before  our  era.  The 
Sanskrit  name  is  Kiratatikia,  or  the  bitter  herb  of  the  Kiratas, 
a  half-caste  race  that  had  been  driven  back  into  the  hill  country 
of  northern  India.  It  is  with  good  reason,  therefore,  that  this 
plant  has  always  received  attention  from  English  physicians  in 
India,  and  that  it  has  been  included  in  the  Indian  Pharmaco- 
poeia of  1868. 
Strangely  enough,  Guibourt  attempted  to  refer  to  Chirayta 
several  of  the  older  descriptions  and  drawings  of  the  Calamus 
aromaticuSj  odoratus,  or  verus  that  was  brought  at  an  early 
period  from  India  to  Europe.  It  is  true  he  pointed  out  the 
total  absence  of  aroma,  so  that  the  remarks  of  F^e  and  Royle 
sufficed  to  prove  the  total  difference  between  the  odorless  Chi- 
rayta and  Calamus,  although  the  history  of  the  latter  is  not  yet 
fully  ascertained. 
This  plant,  from  which  this  bitter  herb  is  derived — Ophelia"^ 
chirata,  Griseb. — was  first  drawn  by  Roxburgh  in  1814,  under 
the  name  Grentiana  Chirayta  ;  subsequently  also  by  Wallich,  by 
Don  (as  Agathotes  Chirayta),  by  Wight  and  Cleghorn.  It  is  an 
elegant  annual  Grentiana  of  the  lower  Himalaya,  occurring  from 
Simla,  and  through  Kumasu,  as  far  as  Nepaul.  In  its  outward 
appearance  Ophelia  Chirayta  closely  resembles  our  Erythroea 
Centaurium,  though  with  several  differences. 
The  Chjrayta  commonly  met  with  in  English  commerce  is  usu- 
ally of  very  inferior  character,  and  chiefly  consists  of  stalks 
deprived  of  their  leaves.  The  plant  that  has  been  examined 
by  Hohn,  consisted,  on  the  contrary,  of  well-preserved  speci- 
*  Derived  from  &<peAof,  useful,  in  reference  to  the  medicinal  virtue  of  the 
plant. 
(34) 
