Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/547

Rh slender; raceme stalked axillary, 6-8in. Bracts setaceous, falling very early. Calyx glabrous, segments separating from flat base. Stamens a little exserted. Filaments very woolly for more than basal half. Petals orbicular, yellow, the upper streaked with red (Brandis). Trimen from Ceylon simply says flowers yellow. Brandis is more accurate. I have seen the plant on Malabar Hill, Bombay, and in Ratnagiri District, on Râjâpur Hills. Developes a big starchy tuber or tubers several feet underground from the roots.

Pod oblong, glabroas, l½-2in. long, 2-4-seeded, turgid, torulose.

Parts used : — The roots.

Use : — The root is used in Native practice, and has marked astringent properties. It might be used as such (S. Arjun). It is given internally, in 6 masa doses mixed with milk, ghee, cumin and sugar, in phthisis and scrofulous affections ; when sores exist it is applied externally as well ; a kind of tuberous swelling which is found on the root is preferred (Dymock).

In some parts of Burma, the root, pounded and mixed with water, is drunk as a febrifuge by some people, and is said also to have an intoxicating effect.

Previous investigations have shown that the pod-cases of Caesalpinia digyna are useful as a tanning material ; of six samples, one contained 45.45 per cent, of tannin (referred to the dry substance), whilst in the other five the tannin content ranged from 53.82 to 59.89 per cent. The plant occurs plentifully in a wild state in Burma and in Bengal and Assam, and its cultivation in India has been recommended. An experiment consignment of the whole pods was sold recently in London at £14 per ton. As practically the whole of the tannin is contained in the pod-cases, a very large quantity of the seeds would be available if the pods were used commercially as a source of tannin. The results of analyses indicated that if finely ground and mixed with a cheap ground pulse, the seeds might be used for cattle-feeding in India, but they could not be exported profitably. J. Ch. I., Aug. 15, 1912, p. 735.

" The powdered seeds yield to ether 25.3 per cent, of a thick light colored oil worthy of further investigation." Agricultural Ledger, 1911-12 No. 5, p. 138.