# Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Rutaceæ

N. 0. RUTACEÆ.
219 Ruta graveolens, Linn. Var. angustifolia, H.F.B.i., i. 485.
Syn : — R. angustifolia, Pers.
Vern: — Sudáb, pismarum ; satari ; (H) ; Sadaf (Dec) ; Arvada (Tam) ; sadapa (Tel) ; Nagadab — sappu (Kan) ; Sadap (Guz) ; satap (Bom). Ispund ; Erunel (B).
Habitat : — Cultivated in India.
" The species of the Genus Ruta are herbs or under shrubs natives of the temperate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere. The leaves are beset with small glands, containing a powerfully smelling oil : they are pinnate or much divided. The flowers are yellowish or greenish, and arranged in terminal corymbs or racemes. The Calyx has four persistent sepals ; the petals are four ; style one ; fruit capsular, 4-celled with 6-8 seeds in each cell."
The Common Rue (R. gravcolens, Linn.) a native of the South of Europe is commonly cultivated in England. It is a somewhat shrubby plant, 2-3ft. high, Avith pinnately divided bluish green leaves and yellowish corymbose flowers. The first that opens has usually ten stamens, the others have eight stamens only. These stamens are of unequal length ; each is bent inwards to touch the pistil, and after the pollen has been shed it bends back again. The powerful fetid odour and acrid taste of this plant depends on the presence of a volatile oil (M. T. Masters).
Parts used : - The leaves, herb and oil. ​ Uses : — The dried leaves are used as a fumigatory for children suffering from catarrh ; powdered and in combination with aromatics they are given in dyspepsia ; with the fresh leaves a tincture is made which is used as an external remedy in the first stages of paralysis. In the Punjab, the leaves are used as a remedy for rheumatic pains. Rue in all its forms is considered injurious to pregnant women.
The herb and the oil act as stimulants chiefly of the uterine and nervous systems. Rue has also been regarded as an anthelmintic. In large doses it is an aero-narcotic poison. When fresh its topical action is acrid, and if much handled it produces redness, swelling and even vesication.
It may be given internally in hysteria, amenorrhuea, epilepsy, flatulent colic, &c, and externally may be used as a rubefacient. The oil is the best form for administration, but rue tea is a popular remedy. The dose of the powdered leaves is 10 grs. to one drachm ; of the oil one to four minims. (WATT.)
The dry rue leaves in the form of infusion and tincture are beneficial in dyspepsia with flatulency, flatulent colic and slight cases of amenorrhœa ; the juice of the leaves has a distinct control over infantile convulsions. (MOODEEN SHERIFF.)
Rue is used by Arabs in Palestine and Syria as a preventive of the ill affects of water drunk at unaccumstomed spungs : they either chew the leaves, or soak the plant in water. (FULLERTON.)
Rutin, which is obtained from Rue, and quercitrin, are isomeric compounds of a composition represented by Herzig's formula for the latter, C$_{36}$H$_{39}$O$_{20}$+3 H$_2$O. The product obtained by the decomposition of rutin with dilute mineral acids is named isoquercetin, and differs in physical properties from quercetin, which is similarly prepared from quercitrin. Iso-quercetin is less soluble than quercetin, gives a dirty green coloration with ferric chloride which on warming turns bright red, whilst quercetin. with ferric chloride forms a dark green solution which on warming becomes dark red. I. Ch. S. 1897 A I. 433.
220. Peganum Harmala, Linn. H.F.B.I., I. 486.
Vern :— Hurmul, harmal, isband-lahouri, lahouri-hurmul, (Hind); Isband (Beng) ; Hurmul, isbund-lahouri, lahouri- hurmul spelane. (P. B.) ; spail anai, (Pushtu) ; spand, spong, ispanthan, (N. Baluchistan); Hurmul, isbund-lahouri, lahouri​ hurmul (Sind) ; Vilayati-mhendi, vilayati-isband (Dec) ; Hurmal, purmaro, ispand. (Bomb) ; Harmala, (Mar) ; Ispun, Hurmaro ; (Guz) ; spimai-aravandi, virati, shimai-azha-vanai-virai, (Tam) ; Sima-goronti-vittulu, (Tel) Hurmul or harmal, (Arab) ; Isband, or ispand, (Pers).
Habitat : — N. W. India, from Sindh, the Punjab, and the Kashmir plain to Delhi and Agra ; the Western Deccan.
A glabrous bush. Stem 1-3 ft. high, stout, flexuous, dichotomously and corymbosely much branched and densely foliaged. Leaves 2-3in., green, pinnatifidly cut into linear, very narrow acute spreading lobes. Flowers ½-¾in. diam., solitary in axils of the branches, sessile or pedicelled. Calyxtube very narrow, much exceeding the Corolla, persistent. Sepals 4-5. Petals 4-5, subequal imbricate, elliptic-oblong. Stamens 12-15, inserted at the base of the disk, some antherless ; filaments dilated below ; anthers linear. Ovary globose, deeply 2-3-lobed ; styles basal, twisted, 2-3, keeled above, the keels stigmatose ; ovules many in each cell, inserted in the inner angle. Fruit a globose capsule ½in. diam., and less. Seeds angled, testa spongy, rough ; albumen fleshy ; embryo curved;
Parts used : — The seeds, leaves and root.
Use : — In Native works on Materia Medica, it is described as an alterative and purifying medicine in atrabilis, and also in diseases supposed to arise from cold humors, such as palsy, lumbago, &c. ; it is also said to stimulate the sexual system both in the male and female, increasing the flow of milk and menses in the latter. (DYMOCK.)
In the Punjab, the seeds are considered narcotic and given in fevers and colic. The decoction of the leaves is given for rheumatism, and the powdered root mixed with mustard oil, is applied to the hair to destroy Vermin. (STEWART.)
In Gujrat, it is burnt in the sick-room as an antiseptic and deodorizer when any person surfers from wounds, ulcers, or small-pox. (Ibbetson's Gazeteer of Gujrat: p. 12.)
The Natives of the Punjab use these seeds against weakness of sight and retention of urine. (Honingberger, Vol : II. p. 284). ​ Dr. P. Gopal, of Bombay, has found the infusion or tincture of the drug to act as stimulant emmenagogue, producing slight intoxication like Cannabis Indica. He gave the tincture in ½ drachm doses to a female suffering from amenorrhœa, and it had the effect of producing a free menstrual discharge ; he further says that it is sometimes used by the native mid wives to procure abortion. He believes that it has properties in common with ergot, savine and rue. (DYMOCK p. 125.)
According to Moodeen Sheriff the seeds are narcotic, antipasmodic, hypnotic, anodyne, nauseant, emetic and emmenagogue. He recommends their employment in cases of asthma, hiccough, hysteria, rheumatism, impaction of calculus in the ureter, and of gallstone in the gall duct, colic, jaundice, dysmenorrhœa and neuralgia; in all of which they relieve pain and procure sleep. The relief afforded by this drug in simple cough and a few other pectoral affections is generally satisfactory. It is also a good nauseant and depressant emetic in its largest medicinal doses ( 3 i ss. to 3 ii) ; but it cannot be employed as such in general practice, because its use in so large a quantity is always accompanied by its narcotic and hypnotic actions. " No Hospital should be, in my humble opinion," wrote the late Dr. Moodeen Sheriff, without a drug so cheap and with so many good qualities as Hurmal."
According to J. A. Gunn (Royal Society, Edinburgh, 22, November 1909)) harmaline belongs to the group of protoplasmic poisons of which the best known alkaloid is quinine, and the actions of harmaline and quinine are practically the same, so that it is possible that harmaline may come to be used as a substitute for quinine.
Harmaline has been shown to be dihydroharmine ; both it and harmine are optically inactive in acetic acid solution. The oxidation of harmaline, C$_{13}$H$_{14}$N$_2$O, to harmine, C$_{13}$H$_{12}$N$_2$O, is best effected with potassium per-manganate in dilute sulphuric acid solution. Methylharmine melts at 209° ; its hydrochloride and flesh-coloured platinochloride, (C$_{13}$H$_{11}$Me N$_2$O)$_2$, H$_2$Pt Cl$_6$+2H$_2$O, were prepared ; it unites with more methylic iodide, yielding a quaternary iodide, C$_{13}$ H$_{11}$MeN$_2$O, Mel, which reacts with silver nitrate, forming the crystalline nitrate ; the platinochloride, and anrochloride of this quaternary base were also prepared. Acetylharmaline, C$_{13}$H$_{13}$AcN$_2$O, can be prepared by dissolving harmaline and fused sodium acetate in acetic anhydride, heating ​ cautiously to 60°, c and then setting it aside ; it melts at 204-205°. Methyl-harmaline, prepared from harmaline methiodide by boiling it with baryta water, melts and decomposes at 162°, and will unite with more methylic iodide. Dihydroharmaline is best prepared by reducing harmaline with sodium in boiling amyl-alcoholic solution ; its acetyl and benzoyl derivatives, C$_{13}$H$_{15}$ AcN$_2$O, etc., melt at 239° and 158-159° respectively. Harmine and harmaline are oxidised to harminic acid, C$_{10}$H$_8$N$_2$O$_4$, by chromic acid in boiling acetic acid solution, or by nitric acid, the same product being obtained when harmol, dichloroharmine, or introharmine is oxidised. This acid reacts with normal alkali like a monobasic acid, but with resorcinol, like a dibasic acid, forming a fluorescein. It reacts with methylic iodide and aqueous potash, yielding mythlharminic acid, C$_{10}$H$_7$MeN$_2$O$_4$, which can also be obtained by the oxidation of methylharmine, and which blackens between 260° and 280° when heated ; with ethylic iodide, it yields ethylharminic acid, C$_1$H$_7$Et N$_2$O$_4$, which blackens at 280°. Apoharmine, formed from harminic acid by the loss of 2 mols. of carbonic anhydride, yields a yellow picrate melting at 247,° boiling concentrated nitric acid converts it into a derivative, C$_8$ H$_7$(NO$_2$)N$_2$ , which melts and decomposes at 270°, and is soluble in alkalis ; with methylic iodide, it yields the hydriodide of methylapoharmine, C$_8$H$_7$MeN$_2$ , which base melts at 77-78°, and yields a yellow platinochloride which decomposes at 260°, J. Ch. S. 189S A. I, 164.
Harmalol has been isolated from the seeds of Peganum harmala, and is identical with the product obtained by the action of concentrated hydro- chloric acid on harmaline ; the green fluorescence of its aqeuous solution is almost completely destroyed by acids or alkalis. Harmine melts at 257-259". Harminic acid is an ortho-dicarboxylic acid, but on titration behaves like a monobasic acid, one carboxyl group being combined as in a salt. Apoharmine is decomposed by potassium permanganate, forming ammonia and oxalic acid ; its nitro-derivative has both acid and basic properties (compare the nitroiminazoles of Bamberger and Berle). The aurochloride crystallises in orange yellow needles concentrically arranged. Harmol can not be directly reduced by the action of hydriodic acid or of zinc dust, but the oxygen may bo eliminated indirectly by means of the amino-deravative.
Aminoharman, C 12 H n N 3 , prepared by the action of ammonio-zinc chloride and ammonium chloride on harmol at 250°, crystallises from water in flat needles or leaflets, has a silvery lustre, sinters at 292°, melts at298 ci , sublimes with partial decomposition, and is easily soluble in alcohol. The solutions of the salts show a blue fluorescence. The hydrochloride crystallises in colourless prisms, and is slightly soluble in water ; the nitrate aud sulphate were also prepared.
Harman, C 12 H 10 N 2 , obtained by diazotising the amino-dcrivative, re- sembles harmine, and separates in leaflets or flat needles ; it crystallises from benzene in small stout crystals, melts at 230°, sublimes with partial decomposition, forming a sublimate which crystallises in needles, and is readily soluble in ethyl or methyl alcohol. Its solution in concentrated sulphuric acid has a faint blue fluorescence, whilst the solutions of its salts show a strong blue fluorescence. The plat inochloride, (C 12 H I0 N 2 ) 2 , H 2 PtCl d , ​N. 0. RUTAOEiE. 247
crystallises in pale yellow needles and is slightly soluble in water, the aiirichloride separating in matted, orange needles and the mere urichloride was also prepared.
Harmaline crystallises from alcohol or benzene in large, colourless crystals which, in thicker layers, appear yellow. Its solution in concentrated sulphuric acid is intensely yellow but not fluorescent, whilst the alcoholic solutions of the yellow salts have a green fluorescence. By the action of hydrochloric acid on a boiling solution of acetyl-harmaline in alcohol, the solution becomes brown, greeu and finally dirty blue, and from the product ammonia precipitates a strong base, C 15 H l8 3 N 2 , in almost colourless needles or leaflets; it separates from water in yellow crystals, melts at 164—165°, is easily soluble in hot water, and forms yellow solutions in acids. The platinichloride, (C lS H l3 3 N 2 ) 2 ,H 2 PtCl 6 , crystallises in lustrous, brown needles, and decomposes at 210°. The aiirichloride is difficult to obtain in a crystalline form. The mercurichloride was also prepared. The base is only reconverted into harrnaline by prolonged boiling with alcoholic potash, and by the action of hydrochloric acid at 150 — 160° it forms harmalol. When harrnaline is boiled with nitric acid of sp. gr. 1'48, nitroanisic acid [OMe : N0 2 : C0 2 H— 1 : 2 : 4] is formed together with harminic acid. The former acid is derived from methoxy- nitrophthalic acid by elimination of carbon dioxide. The harrnaline alkaloids must therefore contain a complex, OMe.C -H 3 (C — )C, in which OMe: C : C^rl : 3 : 4 or 1 : 4 : 5.
The physiological effect of these alkaloids is to reduce the temperature.
J. Ch. S. 1901 A. I. pp. 405-406.
The physiological action of some of the derivatives was investigat- ed, namely, harmine (C 13 H 12 ON 2 ), harrnaline (C 13 H 14: ON 2 ), dihydroharmaline (C 13 H 16 ON 2 ), and apoharmine (C a H 8 N 2 ). The first three have a paralysing action on frogs, whilst Apoharmine causes increased reflex irritability and tetanus. Harmine and harrnaline paralyse the skeletal and cardiac muscle of the frog. Harrnaline has an anthelmintic action, probably by paralysing the musculature of the parasites. In warm-blooded animals, harmine and harmaline cause convulsions, increase of saliva, interference with respiration, and depression of temperature. In the East the seeds are used as a substitute for hashish, and in dogs it is evident that psychic disturbances occur. The drugs are partly destroyed in the body (blood, liver, and nervous sj^stem), and partly excreted by the kidneys and intestine.
J. Ch. S. 1911, A. II. p. 138.
On treating harmaline, harmine, apoharmine, and methylapoharinine with bromine in acetic acid, the hydrobromides of the corresponding monobromo- derivatives are obtained. Bromoharmaline, Ci 3 H ]3 ON 2 Br, crystallises in colourless, slender needles, m. p. 195° ; the hydrochloride, and platinichloride are yellow. In the case of harmine, two isomeric compounds are formed, and may be separated by heating the hydrobromides at 50°, bromoharmine hydrobro- mide alone fusing at this temperature. Bromoharmine, C l3 H n ON 2 Br, occurs in orthorhombic prisms, m. p. 275°; the salts crystallise from alcohol, but form jellies with water. /soBromoharmine crystallises in long needles, m. p. 203°, and its salts crystallise from water ; the jilatimchloridc is orange-red. ​ Bromoapoharmine C 3 H 7 N. 2 Br, crystallises in long needles, m. p. 229°, and bromomethylapoharmine, CjHjN^Br, in nedles, m. p. 196°.
On brominating, harmine in presence of sulphuric acid, and suspending the product, Fischer's supposed tetrabromide, in hot dilute alcohol, slender needles of dibromoharmine monohydrobromidp. are obtained ; when treated with ammonia this gives dibromoharmine, C 13 H 10 ON. 2 Br. 2 , m. p. 209°. Fischer's compound appears to be the dihydrobromide of this base. J. Ch. S. 1912, A. I. p. 209.
221. Dictamnus albas., Linn, h.f.b.i., i. 487.
Habitat : — Temperate Western Himalaya, from Kashmir to Kunawur, and according to Royle, Jumnotrie in Garwhal.
A strong- smelling herb ; shrubby below, clothed with pustular glands. Stem stout but not woody, branched. Leaves 1ft. and upwards, alternate, unequally pinnate. Leaflets opposite, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, serrulate, 2-3½in., sessile, dark green, base wedge-shaped, nerves slender, petiole very stout, angular, margined. Racemes terminal, 4ft. and upwards, stout, strict, erect. Flowers white or rose-coloured, 1½in. long, erect; pedicels 1-3in. ; glandular, bracteate at the base and bracteolate usually above the middle. Calyx 5-partite ; deciduous. Sepals small, lanceolate. Petals 5, 4 upper in pair, ascending, lower declinate ; elliptic-lanceolate, glandular on the back. Stamens 10, inserted at the base of a thick annular disk ; filaments long, slender, somewhat thickened and very glandular below the slender tip ; anthers subglobose. Ovary shortly stipitate, deeply 5-lobed, 5-celled. Style hispid, filiform, declinate. Stigma terminal. Ovules 3-4 in each cell, inserted on the ventral suture. Fruit of 5 carpels compressed, broad, truncate, long-beaked, elastically 2-valved, 2-3 seeded, hispid 1 in. long. Endocarp horny, separable. Seeds subglobose ; testa thin, black, shining, albumen fleshy; cotyledons thick, radicle short.
Uses : — Indian writers do not appear to have paid much attention to this plant. The bark of the root was once upon a time a favorite aromatic bitter. Storck prescribed it for most nerous diseases, also for intermittent fever, amenorrhœa, hysteria, etc. (WATT). ​
222. Zanthoxylon alatum, Roxb. h.f.b.i., i. 493. Roxb. 717.
Sans : — Tumburu.
Vern: — Tejbal, tumru (H) ; Nepáli dhaniá (B). Sungrúkúng (Lepcha) ;
Habitat. — Hot alley of the Sub-tropical Himalaya; from Jamu to Bhotan ; Khasia Mountains.
Hot valleys in forest undergrowth s up to 6000ft. in Jaunasar, Tehri-Gurkwal and the Outer-Himalaya from above Rajpur, Dharmigadh, Tons, and Bamsu valleys ; Korwa, Koti Forest (Kanjilal), Monghyr, Khasia and Naga hills, Hills of Vizigapatam and Ganjam.
A shrub or small tree almost entirely glabrous with a strong aromatic smell. Bark corky. Young stems with thick conical prickles from a corky base. Wood close-grained, yellow, says Gamble, white, says Brandis. Prickles shining, strong, broad, Hat on branchlets petioles and midrib ; thin on older branches, often on a corky base. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, small. Leaflets 2-6 pair commonly ; petiole and rachis narrowly winged opposite, obtusely acuminate, more or less serrate, 1-3 by ⅓ by ¾in., elliptic-lanceolate, pellucid-punctate ; secondary nerves distinct. Flowers small, yellow, usually unisexual, in dense lateral panicles ; sparingly branched. Calyx 6-8-fid. Petals none. Stamens 6-8, much exceeding the Calyx. Anthers large. Fruit usually a solitary carpel dehiscing ventrally, size of a pepper corn, tubercled, strongly aromatic : rugous, red; rarely 2-3.
Parts used : — Seeds, bark and fruit.
Uses: — Seeds and the bark are used as an aromatic tonic in fever, dyspepsia, and cholera ; the fruit as well as the branches and thorns are used as a remedy for tooth-ache, also deemed stomachic and carminative and employed to intoxicate fish.
The carpels of the fruits, which resemble those of coriander, yield an essential oil, which is isomeric with turpentine and is somewhat similar to eucalyptus oil in odor and properties. The oil may be found to possess ​ antiseptic, disinfectant and deodorant properties similar to those of eucalyptus.
The bark of this and of the following species contains berberine (K. L. Day).
223. Z. acanthopodium, D. C. h.f.b.i, i. 493.
Vern : — Nipáli dhanya ; tumra ; tejphal ; darmar (H) ; Thumbul (B) ; Bogay timur (Nepal).
Habitat : — Hot valleys of the Sub-tropical Himálaya, from Kumaon to Sikkim and the Khasia Hills.
A small tree. Bark ⅛in. thick, greyish brown, shining, studded with the large conical corky bases of the prickles, which fall off as the tree grows. Wood yellowish white, soft. Pores small, often in short radial lines. Medullany rays fine. (Gamble).
Branchlets glabrous or tomentose, leaflets 2-6 pairs, lanceolate, nerves distinct, glabrous or more or less pubescent beneath, petioles and rachis narrowly winged. Cymes very short, dense, ½-1in. long, pubescent. Flowers apetalous. Wood, with a broad septate pith, adds J. D. Hooker.
Use : — See Z. alatum above.
224. Z. oxyphyllum, Edgew. h.f.b.i, i. 494.
Habitat : — Himalaya, from Garhwál to Bhutan, also Khasia Hills.
A climbing shrub, clothed with hooked prickles. " Bark greyish brown, covered with large corky lenticels, and armed with recurved thorns on a conical corky base, often ¾in. high. Wood yellowish white, soft, porous. Pores large, usually many times subdivided radially. Medullary rays moderately broad, bent where they pass the pores. Annual rings marked by a white line " (Gamble). Leaves very variable in size, 4-12 in., petiole arched, usually very prickly along the back. Leaflets, 3-10 pair, alternate or opposite ; in young specimens ovate- lanceolate, very long-acuminate, crenate-serrate, pale ; nerves very distinct beneath, in older ones more elliptic or oblong, 2-2½in. to upwards of 4in., coriaceous, shining above. Cymes much-branched, many- flowered. Flowers the largest of the ​ Indian species, lilac, ¼-⅓in. diam., umbellate on the branches of the cyme ; pedicels slender, longer than the petals. Sepals 4, small, obtuse. Petals 4, obtuse, imbricate. Ripe carpels 2-4, of the size of a pea, tuberculated, hardly beaked. Seeds black.
Use : — See Z. alatum above.
225. Z. Hamiltonianum, Wall., h.f.b.il, i. 494.
Vern. : — Purpuray timur (Nepal).
Habitat: — Sikkim, Assam and Burma.
A climbing thorny shrub. Bark dark grey, with white lenticels, armed with short recurved prickles on a thick, nearly cylindrical corky base, often ¾in. high. Wood yellowish white, soft. Pores fine, not numerous. Medullary rays fine to moderately broad, numerous, nearly equidistant (Gamble). Leaves 6-8in., common petiole not winged, terete, stout, very prickly ; leaflets sub-sessile, suddenly narrowed into a broad notched apex, base rounded, glossy on both surfaces, glabrous or pubescent beneath, with many sub-parallel prominent arching nerves. Cymes 3-4in., panicled, imbricate. Panicles or clusters of flowers axillary, ramifications alternate. Sepals 4. Petals as many. Flowers green. Stamens 4, hypogynous. Ovary 1-celled ; stigma capitate. Fruit globose, of 1-seeded carpel. Seed shining black ; embryo in a fleshy albumen, radicle short, cotyledons flat.
Use : — The fruit employed medicinally like that of Z. alatum.
226. Z. Rhetsa. D. C, h.f.b.i, i. 495.
Syn. : — Fagara Rhetsa, Roxb. 140.
Vern. :— Tessul, Koklee, chirphal, triphal (Bomb. and Goa). Vengurla. Rhetsa manm (Tel.) ; Jummina, jisumi-mara (Kan.). Katu Kina (Sinhalese).
Habitat :— Western Peninsula, from Coromandel and the Concan southward. Occasionally cultivated in Ceylon.
A large tree. " Bark cream-coloured, with thick cork in irregular masses, studded with conical spines, about 2in. long, and the same; in base diameter. Wood yellowish grey, moderately hard, close-grained. Pores small, rather scanty, ​ single or in radial strings of 2-4. Medullary rays short, white, numerous, the distance between them about equal to the diameter of the pores. Annual rings, marked by the darker autumn wood, with few pores" (Gamble). Branches opposite. J. D. Hooker says that the wood has broad septate pith, and the leaves are 5-merous-foliate ; petiole not' winged. " The prickly stem resembles that of the Bombax. Leaves 1-1½ft., clustered at the ends of the branches, equally or unequally pinnate; petiole unarmed. Leaflets opposite, 3-oin., with short partial petioles, recurved, ovate-oblong or lanceolate, caudate- acuminate, upper base, rounded, lower narrow and ending in the costa, nerves 10-12 on the upper half, fewer on the lower. Flowers yellow, in large terminal panicles " (Brandis). J. D. Hooker says : " Cymes terminal, very large, glabrous, Sometimes 1½ft, broad: branches opposite, angled; bracts minute caducous." Flowers 4-merous, ⅛in. diam. Petals valvate. Ovary globose. Ripe carpels solitary, the size of a pea, tubercled. Seed subglobose, blue-black. The unripe carpels taste like orange peel, the seeds like black pepper.
Parts used : — The carpels, oil, bark and root-bark.
Uses : — The fruit is used for its aromatic and stimulant properties. The Mohamedan physicians consider it to be hot and dry, and to have astringent, stimulant and digestive properties. They prescribe it in dyspepsia arising from atrabilis ; also in some forms of diarrhœa. The root-bark is reputed in Goa to be purgative of the kidneys. The fruit with ajwan seeds is powdered, steeped in water and distilled, and the distillate given as a remedy for cholera. In rheumatism, the fruit is given in honey (DYMOCK.)
The bark and root-bark are also probably equally valuable. The essential oil is used for cholera (WATT.)
227. Z. Budrunga, Wall, h.f.b.i, i. 495.
Syn. : — Fagara Budrunga, Roxb, 140.
Vern. :— Budrung (Hin.): Brojonali (Assam).
Habitat:— Tropical Himalaya, Kumaon, forests of Sylhet, the Khasia Mountains, Chittagong, and Martaban. ​ A tree, armed with prickles. " Bark greyish, brown ; young stems covered with thick, conical prickles from a corky base. Wood moderately hard, close-grained, white. Pores small, uniformly distributed, often in short radial lines. Medullary rays fine, short, numerous" (Gamble). Brandis says that it is an aromatic evergreen tree. Gamble says : — "It is a pretty tree. When young, the steins are leafless at the top, where the long pinnate leaves are put out umbrella-fashion." Leaflets 5-10 pair, glabrous, broadly crenate, with large glands in the sinus, base very oblique ; Cymes terminal, very large, glabrous (J. D. Hooker). Seeds aromatic, says Gamble.
Use. — The carpels can hardly be distinguished from those of Z. Rhetsa, and are used similarly in medicine (WATT.)
228. Toddalia aculeata, Pers. h.e.b.i., i. 497.
Syn. : — Scopolia aculeata, Sm. Roxb. 207.
Sans. :— Kanchana ; dahana.
Vern. : — Kanj (H.) ; Dahan, Lahan (Rajputana) ; Meinkara (Nepal) ; Saphijirik (Lepcha) ; Milkaranai, Kandvi, (Tam).; Konda-Kashinda. (Tel.) ; Jangli-Káli-mirchi (Bomb.). Kudur-Miris (Sinhalese.)
Habitat : — Throughout India, in Java, Sumatra, China and the Phillippines and Mauritius. Subtropical Himalaya, from Kumaon eastwards to Bhotan ; Khasia Mountains, and throughout the Western Peninsula. Ceylon, bushy places, from sea-level upto 6,000ft., very common.
A large scandent shrub, the branches covered with prickles, on broad corky cones, often lin. high. Bark brown, thin, with prominent lenticels. Wood porous, yellowish white. Pores moderate-sized, often undivided, uniformly distributed. Medullary rays very fine, uniform and equidistant, bent where they touch the pores (Gamble). Prickles on branchlets sharp. The woody conical lenticels terminal, in short curved spines. Young shoots rusty, tomentose. Leaflets crenulate, greatly varying in length, in the semi-evergreen scrub, near Madras 1½-2in., ​ elsewhere often 4 in. long (called T. floribunda. — Wall). Flowers small, cream-coloured, in axillary panicles longer than the petiole; ½in. diam. Calyx glandular. Petals 5, imbricate. Stamens not exceeding the petals. Ovary usually 5-celled. Style short. Stigma 5-lobed. Ovules 2, superposed in each cell. Fruit globose, size of a large pea, 3-5-grooved, orange-coloured, ½in. diam.; 3-5-celled. Seeds solitary in each cell. The whole plant hot and pungent,
Parts used : — The root, bark, leaves and fruit.
Uses :--The root is pungent and sub-aromatic, and is considered as stomachic and tonic. It is given in a weak infusion to the quantity of half a teacupful in the course of the clay ; the leaves are also sometimes used for the same purpose (Ainslie). The fresh leaves are eaten raw for pains in the bowels ; the fresh bark of the root is administered by the Telinga physicians for the cure of remittent fever. I conceive every part of this plant to be possessed of strong, stimulating powers, and have no doubt but, under proper management, it might prove a valuable medicine where stimulants are required (ROXB.)
The root-bark is officinal in the Indian Pharmacopœia, being described as an aromatic tonic, stimulant and anti- periodic ; useful in constitutional debility, and in convalescence after febrile and other exhausting diseases. Dr. Bidie of Madras says, he knows of no single remedy in which active stimulant, carminative, and tonic properties are so happily combined as in this drug.
Rheede states that the unripe fruit and root are rubbed down with oil to make a stimulant liniment for rheumatism.
"I have been using the root-bark of T. aculeata in my practice during the last twelve or thirteen years, and do not hesitate in saying that it is one of the most valuable drugs in India. It is, as antiperiodic and antipyretic, equal, if not superior, to quinine and other alkaloids of cinchona and to Warburg's tincture, respectively : and, as a diaphoretic, decidedly more efficacious than Pulv. Jacobi Vera or James' powder, and a few other antipyretic medicines mentioned ​ above. It, therefore, demands an especial notice of the medical profession.
" Six drachms of the tincture or twelve ounces of the decoction of T. aculeata are equal to one bottle of Warburg's tincture ; and if either of them is used in two doses during the presence of simple continued fever or a paroxysm of ague, it produces the same good effect as the latter drug (Warburg's tincture), namely, a copious perspiration and relief of the febrile condition ; and, again, if the tincture or decoction is repeated in the same dose during the interval of ague, every fourth or fifth hour, for two or three days, it prevents the return of paroxysm as successfully as very large doses of quinine. To render the cure more perfect and complete, the tincture or decoction should be continued in smaller doses for four of five days more. The beneficial influence of the tincture or decoction of T. aculeata in remittent fever is precisely the same, and the only difference is that it sometimes relieves the exacerbation and checks its return at once; and at others, it first converts the remittent into intermittent fever and then cures the latter in the same way as explained above. Out of the many severe and very obstinate cases of malarious, jungle, and other fevers, which yielded to this drug, there were several in which quinine with arsenic was first tried and failed. As the dose of the tincture of T. aculeata is much smaller than that of its decoction, and as it can also be prepared and kept always ready for use, it is preferable to the latter; but there is no difference whatever between the medical properties of both preparations.
" The root-bark of T. aculeata is not only much cheaper than quinine and Warburg's tincture, but is also one of the cheapest drugs in Southern India, its price being only about 2 annas per pound. In addition to this, its advantages over quinine are that it, unlike the latter, can be freely and successfully administered in the absence as well as in the presence of fever ; and that, however long and frequently it may be employed, it never produces ringing in the ears, deafness and some other disagreeable symptoms which are so commonly observed in the use of quinine. ​ " The analogy between the medical properties of the root-bark of T. aculeata and those of the root of Berberis asiatica and some other species of Berberi is very great. The former, however, has one advantage over the latter, which is its procurability in every large bazar of Southern India ; whereas, the Indian Barberry-root requires to be sent for from some hills and distant places, as the Nilgiris, Shevaroy Hills, Calcutta, Delhi, etc" (MOODEEN SHERIFF.)
In the Australasian Congress of 1889, held at Melbourne, Surgeon-Major Kirtikar, in exhibiting the powder of the root, said as follows : — "The plant (Jangli-kâli-mirchi) has been recommended by Dr. Bidie of Madras as a bitter tonic in debility, after malarial fevers, and in convalescence from exhausting diseases. I have tried it in the malarial cachexia of fevers and found that it acts as a good stomachic tonic, improving the appetite, and aiding digestion. An infusion of the root-powder, in the proportion of an ounce of the powder to ten fluid ounces of boiling water, makes a capital preparation. Dose, one to two ounces, twice or thrice daily. Four years ago, I obtained a few pounds of the root from Dr. Dymock and tried it with great advantage. The root contains a bitter principle, the exact nature of which is yet unknown. It was once known in Europe under the name of Lopez-root as a remedy for diarrhœa, probably from the large quantities of yellow resin which the vascular and cortical system contain. " The Bark," says Dr. Dymock, " is remarkable for its large cells filled with resin and essential oil." (P. 949, Proceedings of the Australasian Congress, Melbourne, 1889.)
The central woody portion, the inner bark, and the external yellow powder of the root, were separately examined.
Ten grams of the external yellow powder were digested for two hours with 100 c.c. of boiling alcohol, filtered, and the residue again treated in a similar manner. To the orange brown filtrate alcoholic lead acetate solution was added, drop by drop, as long as a colourless precipitate was formed, and after this was removed by filtration, the filtrate was evaporated to a small bulk and poured into five times its volume of dilute hydrochloric acid. A viscous, yellow precipitate was thus obtained, which increased in quantity on standing; this was collected upon calico, and after being rinsed with cold, was digested with boiling water, the turbid, yellow liquid thus obtained contained resinous matter in suspension, but this was readily ​ removed by means of ether. After boiling the clear aqueous solution, excess of hydrochloric acid was added ; and on cooling, it deposited long, orange- colored needles, which were collected and washed with dilute HCl. To purify this product, it was dissolved in boiling dilute alkali, and the solution digested with animal charcoal, filtered, treated with HCl, and allowed to cool ; the yellow needles which separated were collected, washed with water, and allowed to dry at the ordinary temperature. The product weighed 0.35 grams.
This product was identical with Berberine.
The inner bark also contains a trace of Berberine. It contains also some quantity of a sticky, resinous product, which is insoluble in water or dilute acids, but readily soluble in ether, and appeared to be identical with the similar substance present in the yellow powder.
The central woody portion of the root yielded no Berberine.
-J. Ch. S. 1895 T 413.
229. Skimmia laureola, Hook. f., h.f.b.i., i. 499.
Syn. : — Limonia Laureola, Wall.
Vern. : — Ner ; barru ; shalangli (Pb.) ; chumloni (Nepal) ; Limburnyok (Lepcha).
Habitat : — Throughout the temperate Himalaya, from Murree to Mishmi and Khasia Mountains. In Dun Hills, a common undershrub.
An extremely aromatic, gregarious, evergreen shrub, glabrous wholly, often a small tree in Sikkim. Branched from the base. Branches and foliage very bright green, 3-5ft. high. Wood close-grained, white, soft, with distinct white concentric white lines. Wood has an aromatic scent when fresh cut. Bark thin, bluish grey. Leaves alternate, simple, quite entire, midrib prominent, Exceedingly variable in size, oblong-linear, elliptic- lanceolate, or obovate-obtuse, acute or cordate-acuminate, 3-7in. long, softly coriaceous, nerves indistinct ; petiole short, stout. Panicles terminal, short, dense-flowered, branched. Females smaller. Bracts and 2 bracteoles deciduous. Flowers 5-merous, about ½in. diam., yellowish white, inodorous, shortly pedicelled. Sepals small. Petals oblong or obtuse ; filaments stout, subulate. Ovary ovoid, minute, conic, 4- cleft in male flowers ; style 1.
Fruit ½-¾in. long, ellipsoid, red, fleshy. Seeds 1-3. Embryo green. Kanjilal says the odour of the musk-deer is propularly supposed to be derived from it, ​ Very similar to the Japanese S. Japonica, Thumb., but the flowers are 4-merous in that species.
A poisonous alkaloid, Skimmianine, has been found to be present in all parts of Skimmia Japonica, but most abundantly in the leaves. .It was isolated from the latter by extracting with 96 per cent, alcohol. Skimmianine, C$_{32}$ H$_{29}$ O$_9$ N$_3$, crystallises from alcohol, in yellow, four-sided prisms, melts at 175.5,° and is readily soluble in chloroform or alcohol, moderately so in methyl alcohol, very sparingly so in ether, amyl alcohol, or carbon disulphide, and insoluble in water or light petroleum. All the solutions are neutral to litmus. The solutions of the base are almost tasteless, but those of the salts are very bitter.
Injection of skimmianine into the femoral lymphatics of Rana eseulenta or Rana temporaria affects the appearance of the muscles at the place of application, and renders them stiff and brittle. The neighbouring muscles are also affected by larger doses. Voluntary motion becomes sluggish, the breathing superficial, and the pupils contract. Reflex sensibility appeared as a rule to increase only in the case of Rana esculenta. The absolute strength, and the work performed by the muscles, were apparently diminished. The alkoloid has probably a direct action on the muscles of the heart, decreasing the pulsations and causing disturbance of the diastole. The pulse is similarly affected, even when atropine has been previously administered. Intravenous injection, in the case of rabbits, causes general symptoms of poisoning. Slight poisoning is accompanied by feeble spasms. The pressure of the blood falls even when chloral has been administered, but after a time it increases again, probably owing to the compensating contraction of the peripheral vessels. Skimmianine has no effect on the secretion of urine.
(I.Honda Chem Centr. 1904. II., 15-11-1512)
J. Ch. S. LXXXVIII., pt II., p. 152.
It is probable that the same alkaloid is also present in the Indian species, which deserves careful examination. At my request, Mr. Satis Chandra Deb, M.A , Professor of Chemistry, Muir Central College, Allahabad, analysed the leaves of the plant, from which he obtained an alkaloid, but it was not in sufficiently large quantity to determine its nature. B.D B.
230. Acronychia laurifolia, Blume. h.f.b.i., i. 498.
Vern. -. — (Sinhalese) Akenda.
Habitat : — Sikkim Himalaya, in hot valleys; Khasia Mountains; Assam ; Chittagong ; Eastern Peninsula ; Western Peninsula, on the Ghats, from Concan to Travancore. Ceylon, moist regions, from sea-level up to 5,000ft.; common in Malaya and Cochin-China. ​ A small tree, with pale, smooth bark ; young twigs glabrous. Wood close-grained, rather hairy, yellowish white. Leaves opposite or some alternate, 3-5in., oval or oblong-oval, acute at base, usually shortly acuminate, obtuse, entire, glabrous and shining, especially above, dark green ; petioles about ½in. Flowers pale, yellowish green ; about ¾in., on rather long pedicels, loosely arranged in pyramidal divaricate, corymbose Cymes on long, straight, axillary peduncles. Calyx-lobes short, broad ; petioles ⅜in., strap-shaped, acute, inflexed at tip, hairy within the base, supersistent ; stamens shorter than petals, 4, inner shorter, filament slightly dilated at base ; disk tomentose, ovary tomentose, style very short ; fruit nearly globular, harder in centre, but with no distinct stone, 4-celled.
Uses: — According to Dr. Trimen, the bark is used in Ceylon as an external application to sores and ulcers. The whole plant, says he, when bruised, has a warm terebinthinate scent.
The leaves have an orange-like smell when crushed, and are burnt near small-pox patients, with a view to curative effects (STEWART).
231. Murraya Kœnigii, Spreng, h.f.b.i., i. 503.
Syn. :— Bergera Koenigii, Linn. Roxb. 362.
Sans. : — Surabhi-nimbu ; Paribadhra.
Vern. :— Harri, Katnim (H.) ; Barsinga (B.) ; Gandla, gandi, bowala (Pb.) ; (Guj and Porebunder) Kadhinimb, Kadu-pab, Jhirang (Bomb.) Kadhi-nimb ; Godanimb (Mar. and Bomb) ; Kareé-pân, Karyá-pan (Dec.) ; Karu-Véppilai, Karu-Vembu (Tam.); Kari-vepa-chettu (Tel.); KariVempu, Mishta-Nimb (Tam.) Karapincha (Sinhalese).
Habitat : —Along the foot of the Himalayas, from Garwhal to Sikkim, Bengal, and southward to Travancore.
A small, strong-smelling tree, deciduous in the hot season for a short time, umbrageous when in foliage, pubescent, nearly glabrous, unarmed. Bark thin grey or dark grey, with shallow netted fissures. Wood greyish white or pale brownish yellow, hard, close-grained, durable. Branches slender, young parts ​ pubescent. Leaves 6-12in. long, imparipinnate, somewhat crowded, spreading. Rachis pubescent. Leaflets 16-25, shortly stalked, l-2in., oval or oblong-lanceolate, very oblique at base, slightly caudate ; obtuse or emarginate, irregularly crenate, smooth above, pubescent beneath, the lower ones smaller and more rotundate. Corymbs in terminal panicles, penduncled, many- flowered ; petiole about 1/10 in. Flowers white, about ½inch, in much-branched, flattened tops ; " in corymbose terminal cymes," says Trimen. Bracts minute. Sepals small, acute, triangular, pubescent. Petals linear, oblong, erect, dotted with glands, glabrous, valvate. Stamens inserted on a fleshy disk. Filaments narrowed at top, ovary glabrous, without a gynophore, 2-celled, with 1 (rarely 2) ovules in each cell. Style long, stigma large. Berry ¾-⅜in., nearly globular, apiculate, rough with glands, deep purple or black, when ripe, 2-seeded. The characteristic change in colour of the unripe berry from green to red, then purple, then black, when perfectly ripe, is very noteworthy.
Parts used :— The bark, root and leaves.
Uses : — The bark and root are used as stimulants by the native physicians. Externally, they are used to cure eruptions and the bites of poisonous animals. The green leaves are described to be eaten raw for the cure of dysentery ; they are also bruised and applied externally to cure eruptions (Roxb), An infusion of the toasted leaves is used to stop vomiting (Ainslie). In the Punjab, the leaves are applied to bruises (Stewart). In Bombay, the leaves are given in decoction with bitters as a febrifuge (Dymock.) The plant is noticed in the Indian Pharmacopoeia as having tonic and stomachic properties. The root is slightly purgative (Watt).
232. Limonia acidissima, Linn, h.f.b.i, i. 507.
Syn. : — L. crennlata, Roxb. 364.
Vern. : — Beli(H.}; Belsion (Chutia Nagpur) ; Bhenta (Uriya); Keiri, Kara (Merwara); Ran limbu, naringi (Bomb,) Kawat, nai-bel (Mar.); Toralaga (Tel.); Nai-bel (Kan). ​ Habitat : — Dry hills in various parts of India, N.W. Himalaya ; in Simla and Kumaon ascending 4,000 ft. Monghyr hills in Behar ; Assam ; Western Peninsula, from the Bombay Ghats and Coromandel, southward. Yunan, J. Anderson.
A spinous, glabrous shrub or small tree, with rigid flexuous, woody branches, spines ½-1in. Leaves pinnate, 1-4in. long ; leaflets petiole and rachis jointed, the former narrowly, the latter broadly winged. Leaflets 2-4 pair, sessile, opposite, obtuse, crenulate, l-2in., trapezoid-ovate, obtuse and notched at the tip, base cuneate, margins crenulate, nerves slender, reticulate. Racemes subumbellate, lin. long, pubescent, often leafy ; pedicels slender. Flowers tetramerous, ^in. diam., white, fragrant. Sepals small. Petals elliptic or oblong. Disk annular or columnar. Ovary 4-celied, cells 1-ovuled. Ovule pendulous in each cell. Berry globose, ⅓in. diam., 1-4-seeded, very acid.
Parts used : — The leaves, root and fruit.
Uses : — The leaves are supposed to be a remedy for epilepsy ; the root is purgative, sudorific, and employed for the cure of colic and cardialgia. The dried fruit is tonic, diminishes intestinal fermentation, has the power of resisting the contagion of small-pox, malignant and pestilent fevers, and is also considered an excellent antidote to various poisons, on which account it is much sought for, and forms an article of commerce with Arab and other merchants." (RHEEDE).
Lisboa states that the berry is much used as a tonic in Malabar, and that its red-coloured mucilage is considered to be an antidote against snake-bite and the poisons of other venomous animals.
233. Luvanga scandens, Ham H. f. b. i, i. 509.
Sansk. ; — Lavanga-lata.
Habitat : — Eastern Bengal, Assam, the Khasia Mountains.
A strong, climbing, annual, glabrous shrub, with woody flexuous branches and strong axillary recurved spines. Leaves very variable, 3-foliate, thickly coriaceous ; petioles 2-5in., stout ​ cylindric ; leaflets quite entire, 5-12in. oblong, elliptic-oblong, lanceolate or oblanceolate, tip rounded, acute or acuminate, shortly petioled ; nerves very faint, spreading. Cymes panicled or subracemose, short, shortly peduncled, few-flowered. Flowers about ¾in. diam., very fragrant, white. Calyx cup-shaped, entire or irregularly 4-6-lobed, with the margin truncate. Petals 4, fleshy (4-5, says Brandis), recurved, imbricate. Stamens 8-10, filaments sometimes united almost to the top, subulate, inserted round a cupular disk. Ovary 2-4-celled, style stout, deciduous ; ovules 2, superposed in each cell. Berry oblong, yellow when ripe, size of a pigeon's egg, rind smooth, thick, obscurely 3-lobed, pulp resinous, odoriferous. Seeds 1-3, pointed, ovoid ; cotyledons fleshy, albumen O.
Use : — The berries are used in preparing a perfumed medicinal oil (Kakkolaka), and are sold in the bazaars of Bengal under the name of Kakala ; they must not be confounded with Kshirakakkoli, a pseudo-bulb from Nepal, composed of from 8 to 10 ovoid fleshy scales. Kakkola and Kshirakakkoli are chiefly of interest as being the only two constituents of the Ashta-varga or ' group of eight medicines,' which are known to the modern Hindus. The Sanskrit names of the other six plants are, Rishabha, Jivaka, Meda, Mahameda, Riddhi and Vriddhi. (Pharmacographia Indica, Vol I, 268).
234. Paramignya monophylla, Wight., H. f. b. i, i. 510.
Vern. : — Kurwi Wágeti ; Kari wágeti, ranyid (Bomb and Goa): Nat-Kanta (Nepal); Jhunok (Lepcha.)
Habitat : — Sikkim, Himalaya, Bhotan ; Khasia Mountains ; Western Peninsula ; the Western Forests, from the Concan southward.
A stout, climbing, evergreen, thorny shrub. Shoots densely pubescent, the older branches, with sharp recurved axillary spines |in. long. Bark white, corky, vertically cleft. Wood white, hard, close-grained. Leaves coriaceous, numerous, 2-4in-, ​ oval or oval-oblong, or lanceolate, rounded at base, obtuse or acute, entire or nearly so, glabrous, except the pubescent mid rib beneath ; conspicuously gland-dotted. Petiole ½in., twisted- Flowers ¾in., on short pubescent peduncle, 1-3 together in the axils. Calyx woolly-pubescent, lobes 5, shallow, rounded. Petals 5, oblong-linear, recurved. Filaments hairy. Ovary 5-cellecl. Stigma large, capitate. Berry yellow, globose, pyriform, over 1in. long, smooth. Seeds several, large, compressed (Trimen).
Rather common in the low country, Ceylon ; Sikkim, Bhutan Khasi Hills, Tenasserim, Western Ghats, South India. Darjeeling, N. E. Himalaya.
Trimen gives Sinhalese name : — Wellangiriya.
Part used : — The root.
Use : — In the Concan, the root is given to cattle suffering from bloody urine, or bloody fluxes from the abdomen. When on a visit to Goa, I observed that the country people made use of the root as an alterative tonic (DYMOCK.)
235. P. longispina. Hook. H. f. b. i, i. 511,
Vern : — Ban Nimbu (Sundribuns).
Habitat:— Eastern Sunderbuns, at Baniakhali (Prain) Malacca.
An erect, glabrous shrub. Branches stout ; spines long, straight, below petioles, opposite and alternate, sometimes 2in. long. Leaflets oblong, subacute, 3-4in., base cordate. Petiole very short. Flowers ⅓in. long, solitary, small ; pedicels very short. Calyx-lobes obtuse, 5. Petals ½in., broad, oblong, obtuse. Stamens 10, short, equal, glabrous, equalling the linear anthers. Anthers narrow, with a long apiculus. Style stout, cylindric ; ovary 3-4-celled, 4-ovuled, stipitate. Fruit a berry, 3-4-angled, 1-1¼in. long, between globose and ovoid ; 3-4-celled. Ovules superposed in pair. Rind of fruit thick, coriaceous, glandular. Pulp O. Seeds 2-4 in each cell ; oblong, compressed, narrowed at base into a short beak.
Use : — Fruit used in cases of colic Prain's (Flora of the Sunderbuns, p. 291). ​
236. Atlantia monophylla, Correa. h.f.b.i, i. 511.
Syn. :— Limonia monophylla, Linn, Roxb. 363.
Sans. :— Atavi-jambira.
Vern. : — Mákad-limbu (Mar.); Narguni (Uriya) ; Adavi-nimma (Tel.) Kathe-elumichcham-param, Katyalu (Tam.); Kán-nimbe, adavi-nimba (Kan.) ; Mal-nárangá (Mal.) ; Jangli-nimbu (Dec); Mátangnár (S. Konkan.)
Habitat : — Sylhet at the foot of the Khasia Mountains; throughout the Western Peninsula, from Konkan and Coromandal southwards. Ceylon, not uncommon towards the north of the Island ; in dry regions common. Tamil name in Ceylon :— Perunkuruntu (Trimen).
A small tree or shrub, with numerous rigid branches, the elder ones armed with short spines, young parts glabrous. Wood very hard and heavy, close-grained, yellow. Leaves 1½-3in. ; rhomboid-lanceolate, acute at base, obtuse, deeply notched at apex, glabrous, thick- veiny ; petiole short, slightly pubescent, with one or two linear or setaceous, stipular scales at base. Flowers ½in., rather crowded in axillary umbels or corymbs. Pedicels ¼in., glabrous, bracts small, ciliate. Calyx glabrous, irregularly split to base. Petals white obovate-oblong, obtuse, recurved. Stamens 8 ; filaments completely connate into a long tube and sometimes adnate to petals at base ; anthers broadly ovoid ; ovary oblong, glabrous, 4-celled, style short, no gynophore. Berry globular-ovoid, ¼in., with a long apiculus, 4-celled, 4-seeded.
Uses: — " The berries of this yield a warm oil which is, in native medicine, considered as a valuable application in chronic rheumatism and paralysis (AINSLIE.)
In the Concan, the leaf juice is an ingredient in a compound liniment used in hemiplegia (DYMOCK.)
237. Citrus medica, Linn, h.f.b.i, i. 514.
Habitat : — Valleys along the foot of the Himalaya, from Garhwal to Sikkim ; the Khasia Mountains, Garrow Mountains, ​ Chittagong, the Western Ghats, and Satpura range in Central India.
A shrub or small tree, flowering and fruiting at most seasons growing where, says J. D. Hooker, I found it on steep hill-sides (in Sikkim). Young shoots glabrous, purple. Leaflets glabrous, 3-Gin., elliptic ovate or ovate-lanceolate ; petiole naked or winged. Flowers 6-10in., a raceme, small or middle-side, often unisexual. Stamens 20-40 ; petals generally more or less pink. Fruit globose, ovoid, or oblong, often mamillate at the apex. The stamens are 25-55, says Brandis. Brandis found it, says he, (1) apparently wild in the outer valleys of Kumaon (1875) ; {2) in the outer valleys of Sikkim (1879) ; (4) Damrahal, Garo Hills (1879), a tree of 6ft. girth, 40ft. high; (5) upper Yunzalim Valley above Lomatee, in swamps and near streams (1880). Reported to be wild in the Eastern Dun, on the Satpura Hills and the Western Ghats in the Bombay Presidency (Talbot), Chitagong and on the Khasi Hills (H. K. and W.).
Of the more cultivated forms may be mentioned the following four varieties :-—
Var. 1 C. medica proper, the Citron. Var. II. C. Limonum, the Lemon. Var. III. C. Acida, the sour lime of India. Var. IV. C. Limetta, the Sweet Lime of India.
Variety I. C. Medica proper, the Citron. Roxb. 590. Leaflet oblong, petiole short, margined or not, flowers usually numerous ; fruit larger oblong or ovoid, or irregularly shaped, mamilla obtuse, rind usually warted, thick, tender; very aromatic, bitter, scanty subacid pulp.
Sans. : — Matulunga ; phalá púra ; bega púra.
Vern. : — Bijaura ; limbu ; Kutla ; baranimbu (H.); Beg-pura ; lebu ; nebu ; bijaura; honsa nebu (B.); Bajauri nimbu (Pb).; Bijoru; turanj ; bálank (Guz.); Bijapura ; mahalunga ; bijori ; binu (Roxb) ; Máhalung (M.) ; Turanj (Dec.) ; Elumich champazham ; nárttam pazham (Tam.) ; Nimma pandu ; naradabba (Tel.); Nimbe hanu ; limbu (Kan.)
Parts used : — The rind, pulp, seeds and leaves. ​ Uses :— -Citron rind is hot, dry, and tonic ; the pulp cold and dry ; the seeds, leaves and flowers hot and dry ; the juice refrigerant and astringent. According to Theophrastus, the fruit is an expellent of poisons. It also corrects fœtid breath (Drury.) The distilled water of the fruit is used as a sedative (Year-Book of Pharmacy, 1874, p. 623).
The rind is made into a marmalade and is an antiscorbutic. It is made into a preserve and is used for dysentery (WATT.)
Var. II. C. Limonum. The Lemon,
VerN. : — Jámbira ; bará nimbú; pahári nimbu ; pahari-Kaghzi (H. and Dec); Karna nebu ; gora nebu ; bara nebu (B.); kimti ; gulgul ; khutta (Pb.); Metá limbu ; mótu-limbu ; Motu nimbu (Guz.) ; Thorla-limbu (Mar.); Periya-elumichcham-pazham (Tam.); Pedda-nimma-pandu (Tel.); Doddá-nimbehanun (Kan.)
Habitat : — Cultivated in India.
Leaflet ovate, petiole margined or winged, fruit middle-sized, ovoid, yellow, nobbed or mamillate, rind thin, pulp abundant, very acid.
Officinal Parts : — -1. The outer part of the rind of the ripe fruit (Limonis Cortex) ; 2 The essential oil of the rind (Limonis Oleum) ; and 3. The expressed juice of the ripe fruit (Limonis Succus.)
Properties of the Bind. — Stomachic and carminative.
Therapeutic Uses. — Similar to those of Cortex Aurantii (ante); it is, however, principally employed as a flavouring agent.
Oil of Lemon (Oleum Limonis). Obtained either by distillation or by simple expression of the finely grated rind.
It is carminative in closes of from two to four drops, but is rarely employed in this character. It forms an ingredient in Spiritus Ammoniæ Aromaticus, and in Linimentum Potassii Iodidi cum Sapone. It has been used as a local application in some forms of ophthalmia, but with doubtful results. Lemon oil mixed with glycerine is applied to the eruption of acne (WATT.) ​ Lemon Juice (Succus Limonis.) — The expressed strained juice of the ripe fruit.
Lemon juice contains citric acid, in the proportion of about 32 grains to each fluid ounce, with mucilage and extractive. To prevent its undergoing decomposition, which it is apt to do by keeping, a proportion of about 10 per cent, of spirits of wine or strong brandy may be added, and the mucilage separated by filtration. Another effectual plan is to allow the juice to stand for a short time after expression, till the coagula-able matter separates, then to filter and put into bottles, with a stratum of almond or other sweet oil upon its surface.
Properties. — Valuable anti-scorbutic and refrigerant ; primarily, anti-alkaline ; secondarily, antacid.
Therapeutic Uses. — In scurvy, it is one of the best remedies we possess, both as a prophylactic and as a curative. In febrile and inflammatory affections, the diluted juice, sweetened, forms an excellent refrigerant drink. In acute rheumatism and rheumatic gout, in some forms of acute tropical dysentery and diarrhœa, &c, it has been successfully employed. As an antidote to some acro-narcotic poisons, it often proves effectual. Lemon juice and gun powder used topically for scabies. — Ph. I.
The bark of the root has been used in the West Indies as a febrifuge and the seeds as a vermifuge (WATT.)
A decoction of the lemon, reported by Dr. Aitken of Rome is said to be a very valuable remedy in the treatment of ague (B. M. J. Oct. 4, 1884).
Var. III. C. acida. The sour Lime of India.
According to Bonavia (Oranges and Lemons of India, p. 246), it is more probable that this has descended from C, Hystrix of Kurz than from the C medica of Linnaeus.
For figures, see Bonavia's work Plates 238 and 239.
Syn. : — C. acida, Roxb. 589.,
Vern: — Lebu ; nebu ; nimbu ; kágugi-nebu (B.) ; Nimbu ; khatta-nimbu (Pb.}; Khata limbu (Guz.); Limbu (Mar.); Limun nibu (Dec.) ; elu-mich-cham-pazham ; elemitchum ; elimichum ; ​ elimichum pullam (Tam.); Nimma-pandu ; nemmapúndú (Tel.) Nimbe hannu (Kan.).
Habitat : — Wild in the warm valleys of the outer Himalayas. Cultivated all over India.
Leaflet elliptic-oblong, petiole many times shorter than the leaflet, linear or obovate, racemes short, flowers small, petals usually 4, fruit usually small, globose or ovoid, with a thick or thin rind, pulp pale, sharply acid.
Part used : — The juice.
Use : — Native practitioners consider lime-juice to have virtues in checking bilious vomiting, and believe that it is powerfully refrigerant and antiseptic (AINSLIE.)
Fresh lime-juice often proves effectual in relieving the irritation and swelling caused by mosquito-bites (Dr. Thornton in Watt's Dictionary.)
Var. IV. C. limetta, D.C. h.f.b.i, i. 515.
Sans. : — Madhu Karkatiká.
Vern. :— Mitha nebu ; nembu ; mitha amritphal (H.); Mitha nebu(B); Mitha-nimbu (Pb.); Mitha limbu (Guz.); elemitcuhm (Tam.) ; Nemma-pandu ; gajanimma (Tel.). Erúmitchi narracum (Mal.). Sâkar-Nimbu (Marathi ; Bombay}.
Habitat: — Cultivated in most parts of India.
Leaves and flowers as in Var. acida ; fruit globose, 3-5in, diam., rind very thin, smooth, adherent to the pulp. Flowers pure white, at times tinged pink. The pulp is never acid, even in early stages of the fruit. Juice sweet, abundant, refreshing, " not aromatic," say Brandis and Hooker. I find it slightly aromatic with the faint flavour of the rose as grown in the Bombay and Dekkan gardens. (K. R. K.).
Use : — Extensively used as refrigerant in fever and jaundice (WATT).
238. C. aurantium, Linn, h.f.b.i, i. 515,
Habitat : — Hot valleys along the foot of the Himalaya and from Garwhal eastwards to Sikkim and in the Khasia Mountains ; Manipur; mountain forests in the Peninsula. ​ An arboreous, rarely shrubby, small, slender tree ; young shoots glabrous, greenish-white. Leaves glabrous, 3-6in., elliptic or ovate, acuminate ; petioles naked or winged ; wings often obovate, as large as the blade or nearly so. Flowers pure white, scented more or less ; bisexual. Stamens 15-30. Fruit globose, often depressed, 2in. diam., generally oblate, not mammillate.
Of the more commonly cultivated forms are : —
Var. I. Aurantium proper. C. Aurantium, Linn, h.f.b.i, i. 515 ; Roxb. 590. The Sweet Orange. Petiole naked or winged, pulp sweet, rind yellow, rarely red in India.
Sans. : — Nágaranga.
Vern. : — Nárangi ; Santará (H.); Kamalá nebu ; nárangi (B.); Suntala (Uriya) ; Nárangi (Guz. and Mar) ; Kichilli ; chechu ; collungie pullam (Tam.); Ganjanimma ; naranga pandu (Tel.); Kithaboippe (Kan.); Máhura-naranna (Mal.)
Habitat : — Cultivated in India.
Parts used : — The rind and flowers.
Uses : — The dried outer portion of the rind of the fruit possesses stomachic and tonic properties. It is useful in atonic dyspepsia, and general debility. * * The water distilled from orange flowers is employed, in one or two fluid ounces, as an antispasmodic and sedative in nervous and hysterical cases (Ph. Ind.)
The Mahomedan writers describe the rind and flowers as hot and dry, the pulp cold and dry, and recommend the fruit in colds and coughs, when febrile symptoms are present. The juice is valuable in bilious affections, and stops bilious diarrhœa. * * The peel is useful for checking vomiting, and the prevention of intestinal worms. Orange poultice is recommended in some skin affections, such as psoariasis, &c. Oranges are considered to be alexipharmic and disinfectant ; orange- water stimulating and refreshing. The essence is extracted by oil from the rind and flowers, and is used as a stimulating liniment (DYMOCK.) ​ " The fresh rind of the fruit is rubbed on the face by people suffering from acne" (Dr. Gray). "If the rind be mixed with a little water, and then rubbed on a part affected with eczema, much relief will be derived" (Dr. Wilson) — Watt's Dictionary.
Var. II C. Bigaradia, Brandis. (The bitter or Saville orange), Petiole usually winged, flowers larger and more strongly scented, rind very aromatic, pulp bitter.
The Bitter or Seville Orange. Does not seem to be cultivated in India, except in gardens.
Var. III. C. Bergamia.
The Bergamotte Orange.
Sans. : — Jambira-phalam,
Vern. :— - Limun ; nibu (H.); Nebu (B.) elumich-cham-pazham (Tam.); Nimma-pandu (Tel.); Cheru-narnna (Kan.).
Habitat : — Rarely cultivated in India.
Flowers small, very sweet-scented, fruit globose or pyriform, pleasant aroma.
Part used :— The juice.
Use : — The juice of the fruit possesses properties similar to those of lemon juice. It is often preferred to lemon juice, as the fresh juice can be readily obtained in all parts of the tropics, and as the preserved lemon juice is less effectual. It is useful as a refrigerant drink in small-pox, measles, scarlatina and other forms of fever. It may also be taken with advantage in cases of hæmorrhage from the lungs, stomach, bowels, uterus, kidneys, and other internal organs (Waring's Bazaar Medicines).
Note. — In the common sweet orange, the skin, peel or rind lightly adheres to the pulp. The Nagpur Santra is characteristically loose-skinned. It is grown in many places in Bombay, Poona, Aurangabad, throughout India and Burma ; on a large scale in the valley above Chelu, below Cherra Punji, and at other places on the south of the Khasi Hills, where the fruit ripens in autumn. ​ In Nagpur, the santras yield two crops in the year, the first crop from November to January, and the second in March and April (Brandis).
239. — C. decumana, Linn, h.f.b.i, i. 516.
The Pomelo or Shaddock-Pumel.
Vern. : — Mahánibu ; chakôtrá ; bátávi nebu ; Sadáphal (H.); Bátávi nebu ; mahá nembu ; chakotrá ; bator-nebú. (B.); chakotra (Pb.) ; Bijoro (Sind.) ; Oba Kotru (Guz) ; Panas Popnas (Bomb.), Papnassa ; 6 pappanassa (Mar.); Bombalinas (Tam.); Edapandu (Tel.); Sakotra hannu (Kan.).
Habitat : — Cultivated in India.
An evergreen tree, 30-40ft. The trees very seldom reach higher than 10ft. in Bombay as grafts from " Goti," Bark thick ; young shoots pubescent. Leaflets large, ovate-oblong, 6-9in., frequently emarginate, pubescent beneath, petiole broadly winged. Flowers large, white, highly odorous, the scent most delicate and delicious forming the " Neroli Water " very largely used by the European Jews of Bombay and obtained from Asiatic Turkey, probably Baghdad or Basorah. Stamens 16-24. Fruit often very large, even larger than a man's head ; pale yellow when ripe, with juicy vesicles pink or crimson or pale rosy inside, in great abundance in each carpel, sweet or acid, slightly bitter in some varieties. Vesicle of pulp distinct. The vesicular pulp is not by any means acrid, as Hooker remarks, but acid. The rind of the fruit is spongy, and the epicarp of it aromatic ; it is used by some Europeans in Bombay for making " Bitters," like Angustura bitters for mixing drops of it with sherry as a drink before dinner (K. R. K.).
Parts used : — The fruit and leaves.
Use : —The fruit is nutritive and refrigerant. It contains sugar and citric acid, with much essential oil in the peel. The leaves are said to be useful in epilepsy, chorea and convulsive cough (Punjab Products).
In Brazil, " a gum which exudes in quantity from this tree when it begins to decay, probably in consequence of the attack ​ of insects is used as a remedy for coughs. Ph. J. 27th December, 1884.
240. Feronia elephantum, Correa, h.f.b.i, i. 516, Roxb.
Sans, : — Kapitha, kapi-priya.
Vern. : — Kaith-bilin, kat-bel 3 kavitha (H); Kath-bel (B.); Kainta, kouch-bel (Santal.); Koeta (Uriya) ; Katori, kavatha (Sind.); Kawat, kavith (Mar.) ; Kotha, kavit (Guz.) ; Vilâm, vallanga, velâ, kavit, kaist (Tam.); Velagá, elaka, yellanga, kapitr (Tel,); Bilwar, byala da nannu, belada, bel (Kan.); Vilam (Mal.) ; Diwal (Sinhalese),; Vila, villâte, Meladik-kuruntu (Tamil) Ceylon.
Habitat : — Throughout India in dry situations Java and Ceylon, very common in the dry region.
A large glabrous, deciduous tree, armed with strong straight axillary thorns. Bark dark or nearly black. Wood yellowish or greenish-white, hard : pores small or moderate-sized, ringed, subdivided or in small patches, often filled with resin. Medullary rays short, white, prominent, moderately broad. Annual rings marked by a white line, and the fewer pores of the autumn wood (Gamble). The tree yields a gum similar to gum arabic. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate ; leaflets opposite 1-4 pair, cuneate or obovate, crenate at tip ; common petiole often narrow winged. Flowers dull red, generally unisexual, in lax panicles, male and bisexual flowers frequently on the same inflorescence. Stamens 10-12, filaments short, subulate, from a broad villous base. Fruit globose, gray, covered with brownish fluff, in small chaff-like pieces, rough, 2-3in. diam. (often more especially in the Ceylon fruit upto 4 in. K. R. K.), rind hard, woody. Seeds numerous, oblong, embedded in fleshy edible acid, aromatic pulp. Flowers (from February to April), pale green, stained with red purple. Anthers dark red.
Parts used : — The fruit, gum, leaves, bark and pulp.
Uses : — The fruit is aromatic and used as a stomachic and stimulant in diseases of children. The gum, resembling gum-arabic, acts as a demulcent in bowel affections. " The unripe ​ fruit is described as astringent, and is used in combination with beta and other medicines in diarrhœa and dysentery. The ripe fruit is said to be useful in hiccup and affections of the throat. The leaves are aromatic and carminative" (U. C. Dutt).
In Mahomedan medical works the leaves are described as astringent, the fruit as " cold and dry, refreshing, astringent, cordial, and tonic, a useful remedy in salivation and sore throat, strengthening the gums and acting as an astringent. Sherbet made from the fruit increases the appetite, and has alexipharmic properties. The pulp, applied externally, is a remedy for the bites of venomous insects ; if not obtainable, the powdered rind may be used" (Dymock.)
Is sometimes used to adulterate Bael fruit.
" The leaves are aromatic and carminative, and have the odour of anise ; prescribed by native practitioners in the indigestions and slight bowel affections of children" (Ainslie.)
" The bark is said to be sometimes prescribed for biliousness" (Watt).
241. Ægle Marmelos, Correa, h.f.b.i., i. 516 Roxb. 428.
Sans. : — Bilva.
Vern :-- Bel, sriphal (H.) ; Bel (B.) ; Bil, bel (Mar. & Guz.) ; Bila, katori (Sind.); Lohagasi (Kol.) ; Awretpang (Magh.); Vilva-pazham, Vilvam Tamil ; (Sinhalese) ; Beli (Tam.) ; Maredu, maluramu, bilva-pandu, patir (Tel.) ; Maika, mahaka (Gond.) ; Kúvalap-pazham (Mal.) ; Bilapatri (Kan.)
Habitat: — Sub-Himalayan forests, from the Jhelum eastward, Central and South India. Ceylon (cultivated.)
A large or middle-sized tree, deciduous, glabrous, armed with axillary, straight, sharp, spines lin. long. Branches spiny. " Bark, ½in. thick, outer substance soft, grey, exfoliating in irregular flakes. Wood yellowish white, or greyish-white, hard, with a strong aromatic scent when fresh cut; no heartwood. ​ Pores small, ringed, in small groups of two or three together, sometimes, but not always, more numerous, in the Autumn wood. Medullary rays wavy, fine, short, white, numerous, uniform and equidistant. Annual rings marked by distant lines, and often by a continuous belt of pores (Gamble.) Leaves alternate, trifoliate. Leaflets 3 generally, sometimes 5 ; ovate-lanceolate, crenate, lateral sessile, terminal, long-petioled. Flowers 1¼in. diam., bisexual, 4-5-merous, greenish- white, in short lateral panicles, with a fine, sweet, honey scent. Pedicels and Calyx pubescent. Calyx flat, teeth small ; Petals imbricate ; Stamens numerous, filaments short, sometimes fascicled (J. D. Hooker), anthers linear (Brandis.) Fruit 4-6in. diam., globose mostly ; rind smooth grey or yellow. J. D. Hooker says the fruit is oblong to pyriform. The tree is very common in Western India. I have not seen the fruit in any of the two latter shapes (K. R. Kirtikar.) Seeds numerous, oblong, flat ; testa densely clothed with thick fibrous hairs, in a thick orange-coloured, sweet, aromatic, gelatinous pulp.
Parts used :— The fruit (both ripe and unripe), root bark, leaves, rind of the ripe fruit and flowers.
Uses: —In medicine it is used in various ways : —
(a) The unripe fruit is cut up and sun-dried, and in this form is sold in the bazaars in dried whole or broken slices. It is regarded as astringent, digestive and stomachic, and is prescribed in diarrhœa and dysentry, often proving effectual in chronic cases, after all other medicines have failed. It seems especially useful in chronic diarrhœa ; a simple change of the hours of meals and an alteration in the ordinary diet, combined with bael fruit, will almost universally succeed.
The value of the fruit as a cure for dysentery is when it is unripe. (K. R. Kirtikar.)
(b) The ripe fruit is sweet, aromatic and cooling ; and, made into a morning sherbet, cooled with ice, is pleasantly laxative and a good simple cure for dyspepsia. The dried ripe pulp is astringent and used in dysentery.
(c) The root bark is sometimes made into a decoction and ​ used in the cure of intermittent fever. It constitutes an ingredient in the dasamul or ten roots. "Used on the Malabar Coast in hypochondriasis, melancholia, and palpitation of the heart." (Rheede.)
(d) The leaves are made into poultice, used in the treatment of ophthalmia, and the fresh juice diluted is praised in catarrhs and feverishness.
(e) The astringent rind of the ripe fruit is used in dyeing and tanning. It is also sometimes used medicinally,
The expressed juice of the leaves is used in ophthalmia and other eye affections. In Malabar a decoction of the leaves is valued in asthmatic complaints. A hot poultice to the head is used in delirium of fevers.
A water, distilled from the flowers, is said to be alexipharmic.
A decoction of the root of Ægle Marmelos is given with sugar and fried rice for checking diarrhœa and gastric irritability in infants.
" The fresh juice of the leaves is given, with the addition of black pepper, in anasarca, with, costiveness and jaundice. In external inflammations, the juice of the leaves is given internally to remove the supposed derangement of humours" (U. K. Dutt).
" The Mahomedans consider the ripe fruit to be hot and dry, the very young fruit to be cold in the second degree, and the half-ripe fruit cold in the first and dry in the second degree ; its properties are described in the Makhzan-el-Adwiya as cardiacal, restorative, tonic and astringent ; it is directed to be combined with sugar for administration to prevent its giving rise to piles. * ® * In the Concan the small unripe fruit is given with fennel seeds and ginger, in decoction, for piles. * * * Two tolas of the juice of the bark is given with a little cummin in milk as a remedy for poverty of the seminal fluid" (Dymock).
" The pulp of the unripe fruit is soaked in gingelly oil for a week, and this oil, smeared over the body before bathing, to ​ remove the peculiar burning sensation in the soles of the feet, so common amongst natives" (Dr. John Lancaster.)
" Used in chronic gonorrhœa, when the pulp of the fresh fruit is mixed with milk and administered with cubeb powder. Supposed to act as diuretic and astringent on the mucous membranes of the generative organs" (Dr. Fitzpatrick.)
" The leaves are very efficacious when pounded into a pulp without any admixture of water, and applied cold in the form of a poultice to unhealthy ulcers" (Asst. -Surgeon A. C. Mukerji.)
" The fresh juice of the leaves acts as a mild laxative in cases of fever and catarrh, and has probably the effect of remedying these conditions" (Asst. -Surgeon Doyal Ch. Shome).
" The decoction of the leaves is used as a febrifuge and expectorant " (Asst.-Surgn — N. L. Ghose.)
"The juice of the fresh leaves has a laxative action." (Surgn. K. D. Ghose.)
" The root is said to be an antidote against poisonous snakebite." (Surgn, Meadows.) Watt's Dictionary.
In the Pharmacopœia of India, the half-ripe fruit is officinal.
The value of Bael in intestinal affections, though noticed by Rheede (Hort. Malab., vol. iii, p. 37), Burman (Flor. Ind. Ed. 1768, p. 109), and other old writers, attracted little notice till 1853, when Sir Ranald Martin (Lancet, 1853, vol. ii., p. 53) called the attention of the profession to it. Dr. J. Shortt and Dr. J. Newton, as the result of their respective personal experience, report very favourably of its action in dysentery. According to Dr. J. A. Green, a sherbet of the ripe fruit, taken every morning, proves serviceable in the dyspepsia of Europeans, when accompanied by obstinate constipation and flatulence. He adds that the unripe fruit baked for six hours is a powerful astringent, and as such is used by the natives in dysentery. Dr. B. Bose advocates the daily use of a sherbet of this fruit during cholera epidemics as a prophylactic. At such seasons it is doubtless of service to regulate the bowels carefully, avoiding either constipation or purgation. Dr. G. Bidie (Madras Quart. ​ Journ. of Med., 1862, vol. v., p. 44) states that the fruit of Feronia elephantum , or Wood-apple, which bears a general resemblance to Bael, is often substituted for it in hospital supplies, and being comparatively useless has induced many to treat the Bael with neglect. The fullest account of its properties and uses is by Dr. A. Grant (Indian Ann. of Med. Sci. 1854, vol. ii., p. 224)— Ph. Ind.
" Physiological Actions. — The pulp is stimulant, stomachic, antipyretic, antiscorbutic, and possesses a beneficial influence over the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal."
" Therapeutic Uses. — The pulp of the fruit has proved very useful in my bands in dysentery, diarrhœa, aphtha?, land- scurvy and some continued fevers. I have generally used it in the forms of powder and syrup. The pulp of the ripe fruit is more suited for the syrup, and 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 fæculent 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 check the frequency of evacuations, the powder generally requires the combination of opiates or some other astringent medicines. The powder and syrup, particularly 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 below, 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 Male 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 abruptly acuminate, instead of oblong or broadly lanceolate, and when bruised, have an agreeable and aromatic odor ; fruit eatable and delicious when quite ripe, almost invariably globular, generally two or three times larger than that 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 odour 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. ​"From its greater abundance and cheapness, the Wood-apple (Feronia elephantum) is occasionally substituted for the Bael-fruit in the bazaar when the latter is sold in large quantities, but there will be no difficulty in distinguishing them from each other, if the following distinctions be attended to (Moodeen Sheriff.) : —
| Bael- fruit of both varieties. | Wood-apple. |
| 1. Generally roundish, ovoid or obovate, and sometimes oblong. | 1. Almost always round or spherical |
| 2. Generally about the size of a large orange, often as big as a large pomegranate, and sometimes attains the size of a small child's head. | 2. Generally about the size of an orange, and often as large as a pomegranate. |
| 3. Greenish or yellowish brown in color, smooth and slightly shining. | 3. Greenish white or ash colored, neither smooth nor shining. |
| 4. Rind very hard, woody and thin. | 4. Rind hard, woody, and though somewhat thicker, yet more easily broken. |
| 5. In the centre of the pulp there are from five to eighteen small cells, each of which contains some mucus, and from one to twelve or more seeds. (In the small variety of bael-fruit, the seeds are often absent in some cells.) | 5. No cells at all, and the seeds are numerous and embedded in the pulp. A fruit contains about 500 seeds. |
| 6. The seeds are oblong, flat or compressed, woolly, and about the size of a lime-seed. | 6, The seeds are generally about the same shape, but onehalf smaller in size. |
| 7. The mucus is thick, very tenacious, transparent, and strongly terebinthinate in smell and taste. | 7. Contains no mucus, but is acid from the presence of citric acid. |
| 8. When the fruit is quite ripe, the pulp is of a brownish red or reddish yellow color, with a strong balsamic odour and sweetish taste. | 8. In the same condition, the pulp is of a reddish grey or flesh color, with a very agreeable and slightly aromatic odor and sub-acid taste" |
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
ATALANTIA MONOPHYLLA, CORR. ​PLATE No. 198
(Improve this image)
CITRUS MEDICA, LINN. ​PLATE 199
(Improve this image)
A—CITRUS AURANTIUM, LINN.
B—CITRUS LIMONUM, LINN ​PLATE No. 200.
(Improve this image)
PERONIA ELEPHANTUM, CORR,
(Improve this image)