cal
practitioners, the Natives tell me this has proved an effectual remedy;
and my informant, a Native doctor, assures me that three doses, of three
grains each, is all he finds necessary to give his patient in scrofula
cases.

The chitcherah in its green state is resorted to as a remedy for the sting
of scorpions: when applied to the wound, which is often much inflamed and
very painful, the cure is prompt. The scorpion runs from this shrub when
held to it, as if it were frightened: many people declare scorpions are
never met with in the grounds where the chitcherah grows.

The neam-tree[11] is cultivated near the houses of Natives generally, in
the Upper Provinces, because, as they affirm, it is very conducive to
health, to breathe the air through the neam-trees. This tree is not very
quick of growth, but reaches a good size. When it has attained its full
height, the branches spread out as luxuriantly as the oak and supplies an
agreeable shelter from the sun. The bark is rough; the leaves long, narrow,
curved, pointed, and with saw teeth edges; both the wood and leaves
partake of the same disagreeable bitter flavour. The green leaves are used
medicinally as a remedy for biles; after being pounded they are mixed with
water and taken as a draught; they are also esteemed efficacious as
poultices and fomentations for tumours, &c. The young twigs are preferred
by all classes of the Natives for tooth-brushes.

The hurrundh,[12] or castor-tree, is cultivated by farmers in their
corn-fields throughout Hindoostaun. This tree seldom exceeds in its growth
the height of an English shrub. The bark is smooth; the leaf, in shape,
resembles the sycamore, but of a darker green. The pods containing the
seed grow in clusters like grapes, but of a very different appearance, the
surface of each pod being rough, thorny, and of a dingy red cast when ripe.
The seed produces the oil, which is in common use as a powerful medicine,
for men and animals. In remote stations, where any difficulty exists in
procuring cocoa-nut oil, the castor oil is often rendered useful for
burning in lamps; the light, however, produced by it is very inferior to
the oil of cocoa-nut. The green leaves are considered cooling to wounds or
inflamed places, and therefore used with ointment after the
blister-plaster is removed.

As I have seen this tree growing in corn-fields, I may here remark that
the farmer's motives for cultivating it originate in the idea that his