Uses :—“ Sanskrit writers mention two varieties of Nirgundí—that with pale blue flowers is called Sindhuvára (Vitex trifolia), and that with blue flowers is called Nirgundí. The properties of both are identical, but the latter is generally used in medicine. The root of V. Negundo is considered tonic, febrifuge and expectorant. The leaves are aromatic, tonic and vermifuge. A decoction of Nirgundí leaves is given with the addition of long pepper in catarrhal fever with heaviness of head and dullness of hearing. A pillow stuffed with the leaves of Nirgundí is placed under the head for relief of headache. The juice of the leaves is said to have the property of removing fœtid discharges and worms from ulcers. An oil prepared with the juice of the leaves is applied to sinuses and scrofulous sores ” (Hindu Mat. Med.). Dr. Fieming remarks that the leaves are discutient, and are useful in dispersing swellings of joints from acute rheumatism and of the testes from suppressed gonorrhœa. The people of Mysore are in the habit of treating febrile, catarrhal and rheumatic affections by means of a vapour bath prepared with this plant. Roxburgh also mentions the use of the decoction of the leaves as a bath in the puerperal state of women in India, and Ainslie states that the Mahomedans smoke the dried leaves for the relief of headache and catarrh. The dried fruit acts as a vermifuge (Pharm. Ind.).
Dr. Hove (1787) states that the Europeans in Bombay call it the fomentation shrub, and that it is used in the hospitals there as a foment in contractions of the limbs occasioned by the land winds. In the Concan, the juice of the leaves with that of Máká (Eclipta alba) and Tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) is extracted, and Ajwán seeds are bruised and steeped in it, and given in doses of six massas for rheumatism. The juice in half tolá doses with ghi and black pepper is also given, and in splenic enlargement 2 tolás of the juice with 2 tolás of cow’s urine is given every morning (Dymock).
Only the uses are transcribed; the names and botanical description (pp. 999–1000) and the small-type chemical composition (p. 1001) are left out. Words hyphenated across a line break are joined.