Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/471

Rh " In chronic enlargement of spleen, it can be used with advantage when there is no hepatic complication of any marked degree and fever.

" S. anacardium is a good cardiac tonic. Under its influence many neurotic cardiac troubles are noticed to subside in a short time. The rate of the heart beat is usually increased.

" The drug is a general respiratory stimulant. It has been tried by me with success in several cases of pneumonia in the Campbell Hospital, as well as in private practice. The condition generally improves within three or four days — an ounce of the decoction (strength two drams of the bruised fruits to the ounce), — once or sometimes twice a day having been used.

"If a fruit is heated in the flame of a lamp and a drop of the oil allowed to drop in a pint and a half of milk, the milk can be used successfully in relaxation of the uvula and cough, especially in children. * • The potency of the drug in asthma is very remarkable. The drug not only relieves the spasmodic attacks, but also tends to cure the disease by prolonged use. A course of treatment with the drug for a month or so, in winter, is highly beneficial for asthmatics.

" S. anacardium has a very pronounced action in subduing all forms of neuritis. In peripheral neuritis, including beriberi, I have used the decoction with milk and ghee in gradually increasing doses, with very satisfactory results.



" In Sciatica, the drug often acts like a charm. The patients feel relieved usually within 48 hours. A chronic case of Sciatica * • recovered completely in a month, with the administration of the decoction in increasing doses.



" The use of the drug in paralysis is especially noteworthy. I have found the drug efficacious in both the spasmodic and flaccid varieties of the disease. Several cases of paraplegia, spastic and simple, and many others of hemiplegia with secondary rigidity, have been successfully treated with the decoction. * * " It is also one of the most powerful emmenagogues,