The Bael is macerated in a third of the water and at the end of 12 hours the liquid is decanted and another third of water is added; the maceration is repeated and the same process followed till the last third of water is used. Express the residuum, put all the liquid into one vessel, filter and evaporate till reduced to 800 grams, then cool and add the alcohol. Dose, 4–8 grams.
The fluid extract is less active than the freshly prepared solid extract.
According to Dr. G. Bidie, the fruit of the Feronia elephantum, Correa (the species that grows in the Philippines), possesses the same properties as Bael. Its leaves are astringent, aromatic and carminative, and the gum with which the trunk of the tree is covered is a good substitute for gum arabic.
Botanical Description.—A tree 7–8 meters high, the trunk covered with large, solitary spines. Leaves alternate, ternate. Leaflets lanceolate, scalloped and glabrous, the middle one larger than the others. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla, 5 thick petals, linear, much longer than the calyx. Stamens 10. Ovary cylindrical. Style and stigma thick. Fruit oblong, more than 3′ long and 2′ thick, with a surface irregular with prominences and grooves; 10 or more compartments, each containing several ovoid, compressed seeds, ending with a woolly tuft.
Habitat.—San Mateo, Montalbán (Manila); Arayat (La Pampanga).
Feronia elephantum, Correa. (Murraya adorata, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Panoan, Pamunoan, Vis.; Wood-apple, Eng.
Uses.—The pulp of the ripe fruit has an agreeable odor and is edible. In India the green fruit is used as an astringent in diarrhœa and dysentery; the ripe fruit is given in diseases of the gums and as a gargle. Mir Muhammad Husain states that the ripe fruit is a refrigerant, astringent, cardiac and general tonic, and is very efficacious in the treatment of salivation and ulcers of the throat, strengthening the gums and operating as an astringent. A sorbet made of the ripe fruit whets the appetite and the pulp is used locally for bites of venomous animals. In the latter case the pulverized bark may be used if the fruit cannot be obtained.
The fruit of Ferona is a substitute for Bael (Ægle Marmelos), and is used as such by the English physicians in the hospitals of India. The tender leaves have an agreeable aroma similar to that of anise and are used internally in decoction as a stomachic and carminative.