UMBELLIFERÆ.
Hydrocotyle Asiatica, Linn.
The Asiatic Pennywort has recently been discovered to be a valuable remedy in leprosy, scrofula, venereal, and other complaints. The native doctors, however, have hitherto considered it serviceable only in bowel complaints and fevers, administering it in the form of an infusion of the toasted leaves in combination with fenugreek. It has a bitter, pungent, disagreeable taste, and when bruised gives off a peculiar offensive odour. The active principle of the plant is said to be due to a thick pale-yellow oil or extract, which has been called Vellarine, from the Tamul name of the plant, "Vullarei." Its Telinga name is "Babassa;" its Hindu, "Thulkura;" and its Cinghalese, "Heen-gotookola." By the latter people it is used as an anthelmintic. Though named Asiatica by botanists, it is by no means confined to that continent, but is spread very generally throughout the tropics. It has creeping stems, and tufts of roundish kidney-shaped leaves.
CHINCHONACEÆ.
Hymenodyction excelsum, Wall. (= Cinchona excelsa, Roxb.)
Roxburgh supposed this tree to belong to the same genus as the Peruvian barks, but no species of true Chinchona has ever been found wild in the Eastern hemisphere. The present tree grows to a large size and yields a thick bark, the inner coatings of which possess the bitterness and astringency of the real Peruvian bark, especially when fresh; but the bitterness, though more durable, is not so quickly communicated to the taste. It is called "Bundaroo" by the Telingas.