Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/683

Rh anthers connate, one 1 -celled, two 2-celled, cells conduplicate. Corolla 3-4 in. Male peduncle din. Female Calyx and Corolla as in the male. Female peduncle l½in., fruiting peduncle stout, corky striated, not grooved. Ovary oblong, style short, stigmas 3, bifid ; ovules very many, horizontal ; placentas three. Fruit fleshy, indehiscent, often large ; pulp yellow. Seeds, ovoid or oblong, compressed, about half an inch long, 1/6in. broad.

Uses. — The seeds are used medicinally. The oil is used as a nervine tonic. The pulp of the fruit is often used as a poultice (Watt).

An ounce of the seeds fried with their husks, mixed with sugar, and taken at bed time, and in the morning, followed by Castor oil, has been found an effectual anthelmintic in tape worms (S. Arjun).

The part of the fruit stalk in immediate contact with the ripe gourd, is removed and dried, and when made into a paste by rubbing in water, is considered a specific for bites of venomous insects of all kinds, cheifly for that of the centipede (P. Kinsley, in Watt's Dictionary).

Four samples of the oil received in the Indian Museum from Allahabad, Cuddapah, Punjab and Mandalay, were examined in 1907. The first three were yellow in colour, while the fourth was greenish-brown and flourescent ; they solidified about zero (Centigrade). The following maximum and minimum constants were noted : Specific gravity at 15°, 0.919 to 0.926 ; acid value, 6.38 to 17.65 ; saponification value, 194.9 to 197.1 ; iodine value 88-7 to 133.4 ; Reichert-Meissl value, 0.48 to 0.67 ; fatty acids and unsaponifiable, per cent. 94.3 to 95.8 ; melting point, 32° to 38°. (Agricultural Ledger 1911-12 No. 5).

Vern.— Kumra (B.) ; Safed Kaddu (H) ; Kaula (Bomb.); Kohala (Mar.) ; Kumbala kagi (Kan.) ; Petha (Pb.) ; Potti- gummadi. Budâde gummadi (Tel.) ; Pâni-kakharu (Orissa).

Habitat. —Cultivated throughout India.

An annual extensive climber. Tendrils 2-4fid. Leaves 5-lobed, roughly bristly, almost prickly ; sinus between lobes broad. Blade 4-6in. diam., softly hairy when young, hispidulous on the nerves beneath, denticulate, lobes acute, often slightly lobed ; petiole often nearly as long as the blade ; hairs on the