Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 2).djvu/125

Rh Vern. : — Nil-kulmi (B.) ; The seeds are sold as Kâla dânah ; Mirchai (H. and B.) ; Kodi-kakkatan Virai (Tam.); Banura (U.P.), Bildi, Ker, Kirpâwa, Phaprû-sag, Ishpecha (Pb.) ; Hub-ul-nil (Sind.) ; Kâli-zirki ; Zirki (Dec.) ; Kâlâ dânâ (Guz.); Kolli-vittulu (Tel.) ; Gauribija (Kan.).

Moodeen Sheriff says the Deccan name Kali-zirki should be exclusively applied to the seeds of this plant, but they have also caused great ambiguity by being applied to the seed of Clitora Ternatea, Linn.

Habitat : — India ; both cultivated and apparently wild.

Stem twining, sparsely, retrosely hirsute. Leaves 2-5in. diam., ovate-cordate, 3-lobed ; lobes ovate acuminate, petiole l-4in. Peduncle, 1-5-fid, mostly shorter than the petioles. Pedicels usually ¼in. ; bracts 2, ⅓in., linear, close to the Calyx. Sepals ½-1in., subequal, norrowly linear upwards, very hirsute, or nearly. Corolla-tube narrow. l½-2in., funnel-shaped, rose-coloured, or somewhat orange below. Anthers included, never twisted. Ovary 3-celled, 6-ovuled. Capsule 3-celled ; ⅓in.ovoid, subglobose smooth. Seeds 4-6, glabrous (C. B. Clarke).

Uses. — The author of the Makhzan-ul-Adwiya says that this drug is a drastic purgative, useful in the treatment of bilious and phlegmatic humours, and that it acts also as an anthelmintic. Roxburgh was the first to make these seeds known to European physicians, and it may be said they now hold an important position as a useful and cheap substitute for jalap. They were made officinal in the ''Pharm. India'' in 1868, in which will be found directions to prepare the forms in which the drug is now administered, namely : in the form of a tincture, an extract, a compound powder, or a resin, supplying the place of the corresponding preparations of jalap. The resin appears to be the most satisfactory form of administering the medicine, the dose of which is 4 to 8 grains. This substance is known as Pharbitis.

"The powder of the seeds is very useful in Lepra, tuberculosa, &c. The infusion is demulcent" (London Exhibition, 1862).

The seeds yield 8 per cent, of resin, resembling the convolvulin of jalap tubers, and 14 per cent, of fat. The seeds are comparatively rich in albuminous substance, and the presence of a nauseous tasting fat is a disadvantage in a medicine administered internally, and interferes with the separation of the resinous active principle.