Remarks on the Uses of some of the Bazaar Medicines and Common Medical Plants of India / With a full index of diseases, indicating their treatment by these and other agents procurable throughout India; to which are added directions for treatment in cases of drowning, snake-bites &c.

by Edward John Waring

351.

Tinospora cordifolia, Miers., Gulancha.

Gulanchá, Gul-bél (Hind.), Gul-bél (Duk.), Gul-lanchá (Beng.), Giló, Gúlanch (Punj.), Bekh-gilló (Kash.), Shindi-kodi (Tam.), Tippa-tíge, Gadúchi (Tel.), Amruta, Chitr-amruta (Mal.), Amruta-balli (Can.), Gula-vélí (Mah.), Gul-vél (Guz.), Rasa-kinda (Cing.), Sinza-manné, Singomoné (Burm.), Piturali, Akar-Sarimtooro (Malay).

351b. This twining shrub is common in most parts of India. The root and stems, which are the parts employed in medicine, should be collected in the hot season when the bitter principle is most abundant and concentrated. As met with in the bazaars it consists of dried transverse segments of a woody stem, varying in diameter from one quarter of an inch to two inches, and from half an inch to two inches in length; they have a shrunken appearance, and are covered with a smooth shrivelled bark, some of the pieces being marked on their surface with warty prominences; inodorous, of a very bitter taste.

352. Gulancha is a very useful tonic, and is best given in Infusion; one ounce of the bruised stem to half a pint of cold water macerated for three hours and strained; of this the dose is from one and a half to three ounces thrice daily; it is rendered more agreeable by the addition of Cinnamon, Cloves, or other aromatics. It has been used with benefit in mild forms of Intermittent Fevers, and in Constitutional Debility, and Loss of Appetite after these and other Fevers. It has also been found useful in some forms of Dyspepsia, and in Chronic Rheumatism.

353. An extract (Sat-giló, Hind., Punj.; Gul-bél-kásat, Duk.; Sath-gilló'i, Kash., Shíndal-sharuk-arai, Tam.; Palo, Beng.; Tippa-satu, Tel.) prepared by the native doctors, is held in high repute amongst them in Intermittents, &c. It is a white floury substance, with a strongly bitter taste. It is, however, often adulterated with, or consists altogether of, gluten of Wheat; its bitterness, therefore, is a good test of its quality. In doses of one to three drachms, it is highly esteemed as a tonic in Debility after Fevers, in Spleen Affections, &c. Dr. Burton Brown speaks of it as an efficient remedy in Diseases of the Bladder, especially in Chronic Inflammation of that organ.

354.

Toddy.

A saccharine juice obtained by the excision of the spadix, or young flowering branch of the Palmyra, Cocoanut, and other Palms.

Séndí, Tári (Hind., Duk.), Kallu (Tam.), Kallu (Tel.), Henda (Can.), Rá (Cing.), Tu-ak (Malay).