A decoction of the leaves is used as an astringent gargle in relaxed sore throat. The fresh leaves are rubbed over the soles of the feet in the disease known as burning of the feet ; sometimes a paste made with vinegar is used for the same purpose. Henna is used as an emollient poultice, and the flowers are considered refrigerant. The flowers are also used as a soporific, being for this purpose placed in a pillow. The oil and essence are rubbed over the body to keep the body cool (Dr. Emerson).
The Tamil physicians of Southern India make an extract from the flowering twigs and leaves much valued in the treatment of lepra (leprosy) and other depraved habits of the body (Ainslie). In the Concan, the leaf-juice mixed with water and sugar is given as a remedy for spermatorrhœa, and with milk in the condition known as " hot and cold fits" (Dymock).
"At Apollonia fa city in Greece), I caught a severe rheumatism in my feet. * ® Amongst the many remedies which I applied Lawsonia inermis proved the most effective. Every evening before going to bed I applied to the affected part the pulverized herb, with as much water as was sufficient to make a soft poultice. In the morning I washed it off, but the place continued red ; it is the same herb, indeed, with which the fair sex in the East stain their hands and feet (Honnigberger).
In that obscure affection termed " Burning of the Feet" often met with in India, they are esteemed by the natives one of their most valued local applications. Dr. Grierson (Calcutta Med. Phys. Trans., vol. ii , p. 279) mentions an obstinate case benefited by their use ; and the Editor, when in Burmah, witnessed, in some cases, a great amount of temporary relief to the distressing sensation of burning from this remedy, when numerous other means had previously failed. The fresh leaves beaten up into a paste with vinegar, and applied as a poultice to the soles of the feet, was the common mode of application ; but some patients obtained greater relief from using strong frictions with the bruised leaves over the part. Like all other remedies, however, they not unfrequently
