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from an overdose of opium. The juice of an ounce of bark, mixed with an ounce of ghi, acts as a brisk purgative." (Surgeon J. McCloghey, Poona.) " The root juice, in which burnt borax and nitre are dissolved, is given with success in ordinary cases of retention of urine. The juice of the flowers, mixed with curds, is used in dysentery and menorrhagia." (Native Surgeon T. R. Moodelliar, Chingleput, Madras.) " The juice of the root is used as an antidote to arsenical poisoning in the lower animals. Mixed with ghi and sugar and administered internally, it is said to be useful in gonorrhœa. " (J. Parker, M.D., Poona.)
Dr. Reginald Ashe, the Superintendent of the Jail at Mymensingh, has lately used with much success in the treatment of diarrhœa and dysentery flour made from the plantain. * * The plantains are cut just before ripening, they are skinned with a sharp wooden knife, so as to avoid blackening, then cut into thin slices, sun-dried, pounded in a mortar and sifted through muslin. The line powder or flour should be stored in air-tight glass bottles. The issue is 2oz. for each meal cooked in a brass vessel with a little water. Dahi or butter-milk can afterwards be added. The taste of the plantain powder is slightly astringent, but fruity and palatable. There is no doubt of the high nutritive value of the plantain. The flour is said to be easily digested, it is well worth trying for patients with chronic bowel complaint who cannot digest milk, I. M. G., July 1900.
N. B.—K. R. Kirtikar once obtained some of this powder from Kanara, but he used it only for congies and not for medicinal purposes. The congy with sugar is very agreeable and easily digestible.
Regarding the use of plantain in Diabetes, see my brochure on Diabetes and its Dietetic Treatment, 8th Edition, 1917, Panini Office, Allahabad. (B. D. B.)
" Plantain leaf is the cleanest and nicest dressing for a blistered surface that I know, and is also useful in covering other dressings. A piece of plantain leaf introduced into the helmet on a hot clay forms an effectual protection from the sun's rays, without appreciably adding to the weight of the head-dress." (H, DeTatham, Watt's dictionary.)