OF MADRAS.
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Therapeutic Uses .—The kernel of young or half-grown mangoes is
very useful in chronic diarrhœa and dysentery, and in hæmatemesis
and bleeding piles. In the two first-named diseases it is much more
useful if combined. with Opium and some stimulant and aromatic drugs,
such as those given in the formula of " Compound powder " under the
next heading (Preparations). The kernel of ripe mangoes used in a
similar manner possesses also some control over the above affections,
but to a less extent, it being more nutrient and. demulcent than
astringent. Roasted or boiled, this kernel is not unpleasant to taste,
and is used as food by the poorer classes in times of scarcity and
famine. The gum is an ingredient in the formula just alluded to.
The pulp of the ordinary mangoes generally acts upon the bowels,
but it is never resorted to for that purpose as a medicine ; and the
pulp of their grafted variety is very nutritious. I am acquainted
myself with sonic persons, who get stouter by eating some of the
varieties of grafted mangoes regularly every day during the season of
those fruits.
Preparations.
—
For reasons already explained, the seed should be
removed from young or half-grown mangoes in their fresh state and
cut into small pieces and dried in the sun immediately. In the case
of ripe mangoes, the seed or kernel must also be separated from the
shell as soon as possible, and if not already dry, it should be dried in
the sun in the same manner. The preparations of the kernel are
Simple and Compound powders. Simple powder : The kernel should
be reduced to powder in the ordinary way and kept in a closed vessel.
Compound powder : Take of the kernel of young or half-grown man-
goes, in powder, three ounces ; Cuminum cyminum, Piper nigrum,
Zingiber officinale, in powder, each one ounce and two drachms ; the
gum of Mangi fera i ndi ca,
one drachm ; mix them thoroughly, pass the powder through a fiue
sieve, rub lightly in a mortar, and keep it in a closed bottle.
Doses.—Of the Simple powder, from forty to eighty grains ; and
of the Compound powder, from ten to sixty grains, according to the
age and other circumstances of each individual case, three or four
times in the twenty-four hours. There is one grain of opium, in every
drachm. of the Compound powder.
European Drugs for which they may be substituted.—The Simple
powder, for Creta præparata and Pulv. cretae aromat. ; and the Com--
pound powder, for Pulv. ipecac. compositus, Pulv. kino compositus, and
Pulv. cretae aromat. cum opio.
Remarks.—The mango is too common and too well known in India
to require any particular description. It is a drupe, and one of the
best and most tasteful fruits in India. It varies a great deal in its
size, being. sometimes as small as a large walnut and at others as
big as a child's head. It is generally about the size of a man's fist.
It also varies much in its shape, but is generally ovoid, or oval with
the lower end smaller and longer than the other and bent to one side.
The seed or stone is compressed, oblong, or slightly kidney shaped,
very fibrous and tough ; varies in length from 1½ to 2½ and in breadth
from 1 to 1½ inches. When very dry, the kernel is found loose and
movable in the shell. The kernel is invariably and perfectly kidney-
shaped ; when dry, it is very hard, grey or brown, varies in length
Q