PIPERACEÆ.
Chavica Betle, Miq. (= Piper Betle, Linn.).
This affords the celebrated Betle leaves, so extensively employed as a masticatory in the East. Ainslie says that the warm juice of the leaves is prescribed by the native doctors as a febrifuge, in the quantity of a small spoonful twice daily.
Piper nigrum, Linn.
Black pepper has long been known to possess febrifuge powers: an infusion of it in some kind of spirit is a popular remedy for preventing the return of the paroxysms in intermittent fevers. The root, however, is the part used by the native doctors in India, and is administered in the form of a decoction. Piperin, one of the constituents of pepper, has been said to be a more certain and speedy febrifuge than the chinchona alkaloids, but O'Shaughnessy says that after repeated and careful trials he found it was not of the least utility. The Tamul name of the plant is "Shuvium."
ZINGIBERACEÆ.
Curcuma longa, Linn.
The uses of the various kinds of Turmeric for dyeing purposes and as a condiment, particularly for the preparation of curry-powder, are well known, both in this country and to the natives of India; but the latter consider that it also possesses medicinal virtues, and give it as a stimulant and tonic in intermittent fever and some other diseases. European practitioners at one time regarded it as useful in jaundice.