Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 2).djvu/613
value, 184.87 ; iodine value (Wijs), 107*6 ; unsaponifiable matter, 4.78. Fatty acids : melting point, 32.5° ; neutralization value, 197.6 ; iodine value, 107.82. The approximate composition of the total fatty acids was calculated as, palmitic 20, oleic 45, isolinolic 35. {Agricultural Ledger.)
1332. Coix Lachryma-Jobi, Linn., h.f.b.i. vii, 100.
Sans : — Gavedhu, gavedhuka.
Vern : — Gurgur, (B.) ; jargadi, (Sant.) ; sankhru, sankhlu.gargari-dhan, kaiya, baru, dabhir, ganduta, garun, kasei, gulbi-gadi, gurlu, (H.) ; sanklu, (P.) ; Ranjondhala ; (Mar.)kasai, (Guz ) koamonee, (Assam) , sikra kraou, koa sangti, (Naga) ; jhonki, (Cach.) ; mim, (Lush.) ; chang-mim-khombi, the edible form being simply nim (Manipur); ; gyeik aing, (Bur.) ; kukirrindi karibu, (Sing.) ;
Habitat. : — Inhabits ditches and rice-grounds in Bengal the Konkan and Deccan and throughout the hotter and damp parts of India.
An annual, stem 3-5 ft. or more, stout, rooting at nodes, internodes smooth, polished, leaves 4-18 by 1-2 in., narrowed from a broad cordate base to an acuminate tip, smooth on both surfaces, margins spinulosely serrate, midrib stout, veins many, very slender, sheaths long, smooth, ligule a very narrow membrane. Raceme 1-2½ in. long, nodding or drooping from very long penduncles. Rhachis within the bract slender, above it stout, notched at nodes. Male spikelets subsecund imbricating in pairs, very variable in size ½-¾ in. long. Glumes 4 ; I and II subequal, empty, rigid, or herbaceous ; I keeled along the inflexed margins ; III and IV hyaline, paleate, triandrons or empty. Anthers orange-yellow. Fruit from broadly ovoid to globose, ¼-½ in. diam ; pale bluish grey, polished, osseus.
Uses : — A Missionary, writing of Tonkin to M. Romanet du Caillaud, said that Job's tears made a refreshing drink was a good blood purifier and excellent diuretic. The gruel prepared from the ground seed he observed as also Eau de Larme-de-Job was extensively employed in the summer to cool the body. By the Tonkin people it is spoken of as the " grass of life and healte "