190 Palass.--Butea Frondosa. A very common tree, called also Pullae;
it is a large forest tree, which in season loses its leaves and
throws out flowers of an orange or fire color; its leaves are oval;
their breadth about 3 or 4 inches; it is hot, laxative, and stomachic;
used in boils, eruptions, Badqola, gravel, piles, worms, and broken
bones. It is written, that when the white flowers of the Daak are
found, and any one shall eat the seeds and the bark of them, their
hearts will be cleansed, their understanding increased, and they
shall then ever be endowed with supernatural knowledge; it may be
advisable to eat moong ka dall along with it. Its flowers are called
Tesoo; they are astringent, curing disorders of mucus, bile, blood,
and difficulty in making water. If a decoction is prepared from
the flowers, and poured warm from a height on the parts, it will be
found useful in pains of the kidneys, bladder, and in suppression of
urine. It is diuretic, and if given with medicines of that class,
it will add greatly to their efficacy. The flowers are excellent
as a fomentation in pains; also hydrocele and schirrous swellings
of the testicle may be greatly benefitted by it. The seeds called
Palass papra, are hot and light; they cure seminal weakness, piles,
worms, and disorders of wind and mucus. In the Maadentezerrabad,
"Palass papra is said to be like the seed of the Amultas, round,
broad, and thin, of a dark-brown color; its kernel white, or yellowish,
and perfectly insipid: it is oleaginous, and smells when chewed." In
my opinion, it is useful in phlegm, and the root is beneficial in
cholic. The nurses of Hindoostan put one seed into the mixture,
which they exhibit after parturition, with much benefit, as it is
cardiac. The capsule when whole is also used in decoction. The dose
to an adult is four or five seeds, but beyond that, the opinion of
the physician is necessary. I have used the bark of the seed and the
capsule made into pills, with great success, when mixed with Goor.
191 Belaikund.--"Maadentezerrabad." A medicine of India, also called
Pullai seed, or Kaika; a seed red, round, and about the size of
a pice, but thinner: it is light as a leaf, and is hot, and dry
in the third degree. Applied to blisters on the tongue, to boils,
or other eruptions; it removes the bad skin, and cleanses the parts
below. It is purgative; removes wind, and every complaint of mucus,
cold, or itch; its corrector is ghee, or butter, and its succedaneum
Koonush. The dose is three and a half masha, or 12 grains.
192 Palass Peepul.--Hibiscus Populneoides, (Roxb.) A large tree, of
the Peepul kind; its leaves and fruit large, moist and aphrodisiac;
producing phlegm and worms.
193 Pulwull.--Trichosanthes Dioeca, (Roxb.) A culinary vegetable,
of the cucumber kind, oval in its shape; the plant low, and creeping,
like the Kanoorie or Cutcherie; they sometimes sow it with the Paan. It
is eaten either (when boiled) by itself, or dressed with meat; it is
hot and moist; promotes digestion; and strengthens the stomach and
powers of virility; creates appetite; cures cough and disorders of the
blood, and lessens the other three secretions. It is also beneficial in
fevers, boils, and eruptions. It is vermifuge; its leaves are cooling,
and cure disorders. Its branches remove superabundance of phlegm, and
its root is pungent and aperient, strengthening the stomach. Equal
in its degree. Again, it is said to be a fruit eaten by the people
of India, sown and cultivated with the Paan, because it delights
in shady places. Useful in fever, piles, and mental debility; it is
aperient and promotes digestion; and some say, an antidote to poison.
194 Billie.--The Cat; its meat is sweet, hot, and moist: of use in
mucous and flatulent disorders.
195 Billoousseeke.--Astringent; removes disorders of wind, phlegm,
cholick, or other pain of the bowels. The Bale which bears no fruit,
is called by this name.
196 Byll.--Cratoeva, or ∆gle Marmelos. The fruit of jungle-tree,
like the Quince; called also Bale.