Sringi is a variety of aconite which if tied to the horn of a cow, is said to tinge her milk red.
Kálakuta. This poison is said to be the gum of a plant resembling the Ficus religiosa in appearance. It is a native of Malwa and the Concans.
Haláhala. The bunches of fruits of this plant resemble those of grapes. Its leaves are like those of the palm tree. It is found in the Himalaya, in the sea coast to the south, the Concan and in the mountain called Kishkindhya to the north of Mysore.
Brahmaputra. This poison is of a tawny colour and causes purging. It grows on the Malayáchala, that is, the Western Ghats on the Malabar Coast.
From the above description it would seem that of these nine poisons, the first six are probably species of aconite. Of these the variety called Vatsanábha has been used in medicine from a very remote period.
Aconite is purified by being cut in small slices and steeped in cow's urine for three days, before being used. It is regarded as heating and stimulant, and useful in diseases supposed to be caused by deranged phlegm and air. It is used in a great variety of affections, but is specially recommended in fever, cephalalgia, affections of the throat, dyspepsia and rheumatism. In recent or acute fevers the following is a favourite medicine.
Mrityunjaya rasa 1 Take of purified aconite, sulphur, black pepper, long pepper and borax, each one part, cinnabar two parts; powder and beat them into a mass with water and make into two-grain pills. These pills are given with suitable adjuncts in fever supposed to be caused by deranged air, as also in those caused by the derangement of all the humours, that is, in ordinary remittent fever and in that of typhoid type. A composition very similar to the above is recommended by Sarangadhara under the name
