126
MATERIA MEDICA
them all into a uniform mass. When bruised separately, the marking-
nut is very viscid and sticks to the mortar and fingers, but when it is
well rubbed and mixed with the other ingredients, it is formed into a
soft and unctuous mass, which does not stick to anything. So, this
Electuary is a very convenient preparation for handling, weighing and
administering internally, and it also keeps well for a long time. The
precaution of smearing the hands, &c., with oil should also be observed
in preparing the Electuary, for its omission in one case gave rise to one
of the bad effects described above.
Doses.— Of the acrid oil, from sixty to one hundred and fifty
minims ; and of the Electuary, from sixty to one hundred. and fifty
grains.
European Drugs for which they may be substituted.— Internally, for
Salicylate of Soda, Salicylic acid, Colchicum, Ether, Belladonna, Iodide
of Potassium, Perchloride of mercury, Aconite root, Valerianate of zinc,
and Strychnia ; and externally, for Cantharides.
Remarks.—Like
cashew-nut, the marking-nut is a fruit and not a
seed or nut as its name implies ; but it is commonly known as a nut in
contradistinction to the fleshy torus, to which it is attached, and which
is considered by the natives of this country as a fruit of S. Anacardium.
The marking-nut bears a resemblance to the heart, particularly when
it is fresh and attached to the torus ; hence its Arabic synonym
IIa bbal-qalp or the heart-nut. As sold in the bazaar, the marking-nut
i s about 1 i nch l ong, 3/4 i nch broad at the upper end, and very narrow
at the lower ; compressed or flat on both sides, dark-down, smooth and
shining. On breaking the nut, the pericarp will be found to contain
an oily juice, which is very black and of a thicker consistence than
honey, viscid, and leaves a permanent black mark on cotton-cloths.
Owing to its last named character the juice is in use for marking cotton
cloths all over India, and the fruit producing it is therefore called the
marking-nut in English. The taste of the oily juice is very acrid and
unpleasant, with a slight but peculiar smell. In addition to this, both
the taste and smell are smoky if the oil is prepared by the aid of heat,
as mentioned elsewhere. It is readily and perfectly soluble in ether
and chloroform, soluble in alcohol, and partially so in turpentine ;
miscible but not soluble in fixed oils. It leaves an oily stain on paper,
and a wick dipped into it burns with a good flame like one dipped into
any fixed oil.
The number of the preparations described in some Persian and
Arabic medical works, in which the viscid black oil of the marking-nut
(Aslc-biládur ) , or the nut itself, is a chief ingredient, and which are
consequently named after the Persian synonym of the drug, as
Javárish-e-biládur (electuary of the marking-nut), II alcác-biládur (con-
fection of the marking-nut), &c., is more than 40 ! Most of these
preparations, again, contain more than 20 ingredients, and some not
less than 35, in each ! This is quite sufficient to prove the great
esteem in which the marking-nut is held as a therapeutic agent by the
Muhammadan medical practitioners in India, Persia and Ar
a b i a . T h e s e r e m a r k s , h o w e v e r , a r e a p p l i c a b l e o n l y t o t h e i n t e r n a l u s e o f t h e
n u t , a n d I d o n o t h e s i t a t e i n a d d i n g t h a t o u t o f t h e ma n y c a s e s i n
which I employed it or its oil in full medicinal doses, there was not a
single instance of complaint of irritation of the alimentary canal or of