OP MADRAS.
85
that of the half-ripe for the powder. The powder, again, is more useful
in acute diseases, and the syrup in the chronic. In acute dysentery
the powder is required to be employed in much larger doses than
in any other disease. The first good effect of the powder in acute
dysentery is generally the disappearance of blood and a proportionate
increase of the fmculent matter in evacuations. In fact, the powder
seems to have more power in altering the nature of the dysenteric
motions than in reducing their number. To cheek the frequency of
eva uaions,the powder generally requires the combination of opiacs
or some other astringent medicines. The powder and syrup, particu-
larly the former, are also very useful in relieving the febrile condition
in some forms of continued fever, including the hectic and typhoid.
The abnormal temperature is reduced under its use in a remarkable
manner and deserves particular attention.
Preparations.—Powder and. Syrup—Powder : The pulp being first
prepared and dried in the manner described under the heading of
" _Remarks," it is reduced to a fine powder in the usual way and kept
in a closed vessel. Syrup: Take of the dry pulp, five ounces ; soak it
in two pints of water for a few hours or till it becomes soft ; rub it
well with the hand and strain the liquid through cloth up to one pint ;
add to the latter fifteen ounces of refined sugar, and heat it till it
acquires the consistency of a thick syrup. When the syrup is prepared
from the pulp of the large or cultivated variety of bael-fruit, the
quantity of sugar required is only ten ounces.
Doses.—Of the powder, as a remedy in dysentery, from twenty to
forty-five grains ; and for all other purposes, from ten to twenty grains ;
four, five or six times in the twenty-four hours. Of the syrup, from
four fluid drachms to one fluid ounce, every third or fourth hour. The
small or common variety of bael-fruit being, as a medicine, stronger
than the larger or cultivated variety, the dose of its powder should
always be less than that of the latter by one-third.
Remarks.– There are two varieties of Ægle Marmelos, the small or
common, and the large or cultivated. There is no distinct difference
between the medical properties of both varieties, except that the fruit
of the small or common variety, which is described in every botanical
work in this country, is much stronger, as a drug, than that of the
large or cultivated variety. The large or cultivated variety differs from
the small or common one in the following points :-
Generally free from spines ; leaflets broadly and abrupt ly acumi-
nate instead of oblong or broadly lanceolate, and when braised, have
an agreeable and aromatic odor ; fniit eatable and delicious when
quite ripe, almost invariably globular, generally two or three times
larger than ttaat of the small or common variety, and sometimes attains
the size of a small child's head.
The pulp of the ripe and half-ripe fruit of both varieties is the best
and most useful part of the plant for medicinal purposes. The pulp
should. be removed from the rind before the fruit is dry, cut into small
pieces and dried in the sun. The pulp of the ripe fruit of the large
variety is first of flesh color, but gradually becomes dark-brown ; it has
an agreeable and aromatic odor and a terebinthinate and sweetish taste.
It is not destroyed by keeping. However old it may be, if soaked in
water for some hours, it becomes as soft as it is when fresh, and still
retains its characteristic smell and taste.