892 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS.
pinnate ; petiole lin. Peduncles i-4in. Cymes 2-5in. diam., pedicels £-fin. Calyx in fruit almost sauce-shaped, lobes 5in. Flower sV n '> ovate oblong. Corolla fin. diam. Style glabrous. Berry Jin. diam., globose. Seeds ^in., smooth.
Uses : — Officinal in both British and Indian Pharmacopeias. In India, it is considered alterative, diuretic and diaphoretic ; it is regarded as useful in constitutional syphilitic affections, chronic rheumatism, and especially so in psoriasis, lepra, and other obstinate skin diseases (Watt).
" The dried fruit of S. dulcamara, known as Anab-es-salib in Bombay, comes from Persia/' (Pharmacographia Indica, Vol. H. p. 533).
Upon extraction with alcohol and water, the berries yielded 31*55 p. c. of sugar which appeared to be laevulose. The berries were then dried and extracted with ether, when an oil was obtained, amounting to 9*1569 p. c., After purifying, the oil was viscous and of amber colour. It had the sp. gr. 0. 9604, and an acid value of 306. Nitrogen is present in the berries to the extent of 0'934 per cent. Evidence was obtained of the presence of acetic, tartaric, and citric acids. The total alkloid wss 0*15 per cent, and appeared to be solanine. [B. R. Anderson, in Chem- News, 1911 ; abstract in J. Ch. I. for 31-7-1911, p. 921].
855. S. spirale, Boxb. h.f.b.l, iv. 230. Roxb. 255.
Vern. : — Bagua (Silhet) ; Mungus kajur (Patna). Habitat : — Assam ; Khasia Mountains and East Bengal.
An unarmed glabrous herb or undershrub, 4-1 2ft. Leases attaining 8-3in., elliptic, entire, acute at both ends, glabrous or scarcely puberulous. Petiole fin. Peduncles extra-axillary ; pedicels long, densely, spirally racemed. Calyx fin., cup-shaped in fruit, saucer-shaped, not enlarged. Calyx-teeth minute. Corolla white, fin. diam., deeply lobed. Anthers oblong, scarce- ly narrowed upwards. Berry fin. diam., globose smooth. Seeds fin. diam., smooth.
Use : — The root is given in Patna as a narcotic and diuretic in doses of gr. i to grs. viii. (Irvine).
856. S. verbascifolium, Linn., h.f.b.l, iv. 230. Vern. ; — Dursul (Nepal.) ; Sivor (Lepcha) ; Asheta (U. P.) ;
