Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/811

Rh which means it is saponified and dissolved, methylic alcohol of great purity being liberated. The solution of the oil is then docomposed by any mineral acid, when beautiful crystals of salicylic acid are formed. These are gathered, squeezed, and dried. They are then mixed with common quicklime or sand, and distilled in an iron retort ; carbolic acid of great purity, and crystallizing with the greatest readiness, passes into the receiver. This acid is equal to the purest kind obtained from coal tar, and employed in medicine. It, of course, possesses all the qualities which have rendered this substance almost indispensable in modern medical and surgical practice. I had hoped, from the inexhaustible abundance with which the plant grows on the Neilgherries, that the carbolic acid from this source could be prepared at less cost than that imported. I have not yet had an opportunity of working on a large scale with an itinerant still, as would be necessary for its cheapest production ; but from some calculations I have lately made, I am led to think it can scarcely be prepared for less than the price of that procured from coal-tar. The purest kinds from the latter source cost four shillings a pound ; I estimate the cost of that from this indigenous sorce at from Rs. 2-8 to Rs. 3-8 per pound in this country. The carbolic acid from the same source has certain advantages over the coal-tar acid, consequent on its extreme purity. It is less deliquescent, and cannot possibly be open to the suspicion of contamination with certain other products of coal-tar which possess injurious qualities.

" In conclusion I am led to the belief that it would not be advisable to prepare carbolic acid from this singular source, when the comparative cost shows that the gain must be very small or non-existent. But it appears to me well worthy of record, that should circumstances render the supply of the English product difficult or uncertain, as in the case of war, or the English price increase, a practically inexhaustible source exists in this country from which this indispensable substance, in its purest state, can be obtained at a slight enhancement of the present price." (Confer. Pharm. Journ., Oct 1871.)

Syn. : — Andromeda ovalifolia, Wall.

Vern. : — Ayâr (H.) ; Ayatta, eilan, ellal, arur, arwân (Pb.) ; Anjir, angiar, jagguchal (Nepal) ; Piazay (Bhutia) ; Kangshior (Lepcha).

Habitat: — Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to Bhotan and the Khasia Mountains.

A deciduous tree. Bark thick, fibrous, peeling off in long narrow stripes, deeply cleft, the clefts often extending spirally round the stem. Wood light, reddish-brown, soft, even-grained, but warps badly. Height 20-40ft. Leaves 3-7 by l-4in., ovate-elliptic oblong, acute or acuminate, entire, rounded at the base,