By the Mahomedan writers the juice is described as caustic, a purge for phlegm, depilatory, and the most acrid of all milky juices. Medicinally, it is useful in ringworm of the scalp and to destroy piles ; mixed with honey, it may be applied to aphthæ of the mouth ; a piece of cotton dipped in it may be inserted into a hollow tooth to relieve the pain. Hakim Mir Abdul Hamid strongly recommends it in leprosy, hepatic and splenic enlargements, dropsy and worms. The milk is a favorite application to painful joints, swellings, &c, the fresh leaves also, slightly roasted, are used for the same purpose. Oil, in which the leaves have been boiled, is applied to paralysed parts, a
powder of the dried leaves is dusted upon wounds to destroy excessive granulation and promote healthy action.
In want of virility the following prescription is in vogue. Take 125 of the flowers, dry and powder, then mix with one tola each of cloves nutmegs, mace and pellitory root, and make into pills of six massas each. One pill may be taken daily dissolved in milk (Dymock).
The root, bark, and juice of this plant are used in medicine for their emetic, diaphoretic, alterative, and purgative properties. In the treatment of dysentery, the dried bark of the root is stated to be an excellent substitute for Ipecacuanha. The bark, root, and dried milky sap may be used in small doses in certain cutaneous affections, such as leprosy and secondary syphilis ; the root-bark, in large doses, is an emetic It is administered to promote secretions, and is stated to be useful in enlargements of the abdominal viscera, intestinal worms, cough, ascites, anasarca, &c. The flowers are considered digestive, stomachic, tonic, useful in asthma, catarrh, and loss of appetite. The powder of the root in 3 to 5 grains promotes gastric secretion and acts as a mild stimulant and may be given with carminatives in dyspepsia. It is also given as a febrifuge.
773. C. procera, Br., h.f.b.i., iv. 18.
Sans. : — Alarka.
Vern. : — Spulmei ; Spalmak ; Pashkand (Trans. Ind.) Ak
