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INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS.

certainly save them from the cost of the supply of Europe mustard for external use. The plant grows well with ordinary care."

"The fresh root-bark of this plant is also a very good rubefacient and vesicant, but it is rather too dear and not procurable in large quantities. The bark of the stem is very thick (from 1 to 2 inches when fresh, and from ½ to 1 inch when dry), greenish brown on the outer side, and grey or pale-white internally and on the inner side, and almost tasteless and odourless. It is one of those barks which can be easily reduced to a coarse powder, immediately after its removal from the stem." (Moodeen Sheriff).

The bark of the stem and root of this plant constitute the principal medicine of the Hindoo Pharmacopœia for calculus affections. It is said to promote the appetite, decrease the secretion of the bile, act as laxative and remove disorders of the urinary organs. (U. C. Dutt).

In Bombay, the leaves are used as a remedy for swelling of the feet, and a burning sensation in the soles of the feet. The leaf-juice is given in rheumatism in the Concan, in doses of ½ to 3 tolas, mixed with cocoanut juice and Ghi. In caries of the bones of the nose, the leaf is smoked and the smoke exhaled through the nose. The bark and the leaf pounded and tied in a cloth are used as a fomentation in rheumatism (Dymock).


90. Cadaba indica, Lamk. h.f.b.i. i, 172.

Syn. : — Stroemeria tetrandra Vahl Roxb. 267.

Vern. :— Kodhab (Sindh, and Hindi); Habab (Bomb.) Chemoodda (Tel.).

Habitat : — Western Peninsula, Sind, Concan, Deccan and Coromandal Coast, on old walls and in waste dry places.

A shrub often straggling or half-climbing, much-branched, glabrous or pubescent. " Bark brown, sometimes rough,