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ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY.
As ornamental plants many are cultivated, but the Dahlia is the favourite in England In India the French Marigold is in great repute among Mussulmen, and in European gardens the Coriopsis and Zinnea are frequent inmates, along with a few others. The Chrysanthemum Indicum, or Christmas flower, is much less known in India than in England.
Medicines. Under this head a long article might be written as many species are reputed to possess properties of considerable value, and doubtless many merit the reputation they have acquired, though now principally employed in domestic practice. It is not, however, my inten- tion to dilate on this branch of the subject, in a work appropriated to Indian Botany, so few of those favourably spoken of being natives of this country or even procurable in it. As a general principle it may be remarked that many of those used in medicine are distinguished for their possession of bitter and aromatic properties, and are therefore adapted to the treat- ment of diseases of debility. Of this description are our Artimesia Indica and Vernonia Anthelmentica, the leaves and tops of the former, in form of infusion and electuary, being prescribed by native practitioners in various forms of nervous and spasmodic diseases con- nected with debility and obstructed secretions, and as an antiseptic fomentation in foul spread- ing ulcers ; while the seeds of the latter, which are bitter and pungent, are, as the name imports, valued as a remedy against worms. On the Malabar Coast it is stated an infusion of them is given for coughs and in flatulencies. Wedelia (or Verbesina) calendulacea (R. W. Icones, No. 1109), is "pleasant and somewhat aromatic to the taste" and every part of it is used in medicine. It is prescribed in powder and decoction in jaundice and visceral obstructions. The root of Anacyclus (Anthemis) Pyrethrum, to be met with in most Indian bazars, is acrid and pungent, causing, when chewed, a copious flow of saliva, hence is useful in toothache through its depletory action and counter irritation. The effect is attributed to a soft resin and aetherial oil which enter into its composition. With these I believe I have nearly gone through the list of Composite plants used in native practice in Southern India. With the exception of the last, not an Indian plant, I am not aware of any of them being prescribed by European practitioners, but some of them seem to merit a trial. But it would be doing injustice to the subject were I to stop here. The milky juice of several species of Lettuce, when inspissated by exposure to the sun, becomes the well known, but not now much used, Lactucarium, a narcotic of some power, free from the stimulating properties of opium, for which it is occasionally substituted in cases where that drug is inadmissible. On the Continent of Europe the roots of the Endive are in great repute in domestic practice, but I presume are not very active in their operation, otherwise they would not be so much used as aliments. The Thistle tribe, Cynarece or Carduacecs, are bitter and stimulant, and some are endowed with diuretic and diaphoretic virtues. The seed of many of them are oily and purgative but destitute of aroma. The seed and leaves of the Blessed thistle, Cnicus benedictus, were formerly in high repute as tonics in Europe, and many species of Centauria, Carduus and Cnicus are still in use on the Continent as tonics and febrifuges, but are nearly wanting in the Flora of India. Eupatorium Ayapana is, both in China and India, supposed to be an antidote to snake bites, and doubtless is as efficient as a hundred other equally impotent remedies that have obtained similar repute, the cures being for the most part referable to the post hoc not propter hoc principle. An infusion of the leaves is however said to form an excellent diet drink, and their juice to be very effective in cleaning foul ulcers. Grangea Madraspatana, a common Indian plant belonging to the Asteroid division of the order, but referred by Linnseus to Artimesia, may be noticed as another medicinal plant, though not mentioned by Ainslie. Artimesia chinensis yields the celebrated moxa. Myriogyne minuta ( Artimesia stemutatoria, Roxb.), and Arnica montana are both violent sternutatories, and the latter 1 , known in England under the name of "mountain tobacco, 11 is said to be a virulent plant, acting as an acrid narcotic agent. It is recommended in putrid fevers, and in paralytic affec- tions is considered so efficacious that it has, in Europe, got the name of Panacea lapsorum. Many more might be mentioned but I must refer those desirous of further information to Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom and Endlicher's Enchridion Botanicum.
Remarks on Genera and Sfecies. In so extensive an order, and one to the knowledge of which the Indian Botanist has no guide more compendious than a general system of Botany,
