Mudar.
Calotropis procera and C. gigantea, R. Brown.
Ák, Ákond, Madár (Hind., Punj.), Ák, Akrá, (Duk.), Ák, Ákondo (Beng.), Ak-a-múl (Kash.), Erukku or Erukkam (Tam.), Jillédu-chettu, Mándáramu (Tel.), Erukka (Mal.), Yakkeda-gidá (Can.), Ákda-cha-jháda (Mah.), Ákda-nu-jháda (Guz.), Vára, Vára-gaha (Cing.), Mayo-bin (Burm.), Ramegu (Malay).
241. One or other of the above species of Calotropis is found everywhere in India, and although some doubt exists as to which of them is the Mudar which some years since attained high repute in the treatment of leprosy, they both possess the same medical properties and may be used indiscriminately. The only part employed in medicine is the root-bark; and it is necessary carefully to attend to the subjoined directions for collecting and preparing it for medical use, a disregard of them having been, in some instances, the apparent cause of the failure of the remedy. The roots should be collected in the months of April and May, from sandy soils, and all particles of sand and dirt having been carefully removed by washing, they should be dried in the open air, without exposure to the sun, until the milky juice contained in them becomes so far dried that it ceases to flow on incisions being made. The bark is then to be carefully removed, dried, reduced to powder, and preserved in well corked bottles. In small doses, from 2 to 5 grains, long continued, its action is that of an alterative tonic; in larger ones, from 30 to 60 grains, for adults, it acts freely as an emetic, and in this character it is regarded by some as one of the best Indian substitutes for Ipecacuanha.
242. In Leprosy, Constitutional Syphilis, Obstinate Ulcerations, and in Chronic Rheumatism; also in Skin Diseases arising from the abuse of Mercury, powdered Mudar (ante) has been found highly useful in some instances, whilst in others it has altogether failed. The commencing dose is 3 grains, gradually increased to 10 grains or more, thrice daily.
243. In the Dysentery of Natives it has been highly spoken of. In the severer class of cases in adults, a large dose, from 20 to 60 grains, may be given at once, in the same manner as Ipecacuanha (see Art. Dysentery in Index). In ordinary cases, smaller doses are preferable. For children the dose is 1 or 2 grains for every year of age, three or four times a day. Its effects are said to be very similar to those of Ipecacuanha, like which, it may be given variously combined, as circumstances may require.
244.
Mustard.
The seeds of Sinapis juncea, Linn. and other species of Sinapis.