Sanskrit writers call mustard seeds Sarshapa and notice two kinds, sidhartha or white mustard (B. campestris), and rajika or brown mustard (probably B. juncea). The first kind is almost exclusively used for the production of the expressed oil,* while the brown or black mustards are preferred on account of their greater pungency as rubefacients and for internal administration. The expressed oil of mustard is largely used as an article of diet, and when applied to the skin is considered to keep it soft, cool, and clean, and to promote the growth of hair. In Bengal it is much used by males for rubbing over the body before bathing, females always using cocoanut oil, either plain or perfumed, for the same purpose. Internally the Hindus use mustard combined with other stimulants in dyspepsia and as an emetic; externally they use it in much the same way as we do in Europe, but with the addition of other drugs, most of them of doubtful efficacy. In the Concan the whole seeds, moistened in warm water and sprinkled with lime, are given as a remedy for dyspepsia. In the Makhzan-el-Adwiya three kinds of mustard are noticed. Wild mustard, with small round reddish brown seeds, and two sorts of cultivated mustard, the white and the red. The seeds of the latter are directed to be used for medicinal purposes; they are described as large and not round. The Mahometans consider mustard to be hot and dry, and to have detergent and digestive properties; they prescribe it internally in many diseases in which they think such remedies are indicated; externally they apply it in a variety of ways as a stimulant and counter-irritant. The list of diseases in which it is recommended, and the method of application or administration in each is too long to reproduce here. (Cf. Makhzan, article Khardal.) Modern research has shown that essential oil of mustard has antiseptic properties and is destructive of bacteria; it is intensely irritant, and if taken internally would act as a powerful irritant poison. The seeds share its properties, and when powdered and mixed with water act upon the skin and mucous membranes as a stimulant of the circulation, causing heat, redness and pain if the application is short, but vesication and much irritation if too prolonged. It is therefore a most valuable counter-irritant in neuralgic pains and internal congestions. Applied as a hip bath it acts as an indirect emmenagogue by stimulating the circulation. Given internally to the extent of a heaped dessert spoonful in a pint of warm water or gruel, mustard flour acts rapidly as an emetic through its irritant action on the mucous membrane of the stomach, and is therefore useful when narcotics have been taken in poisonous doses. In small doses mustard flour is carminative and sialagogue, and promotes digestion by increasing the flow of saliva and gastric juice. The seeds act in the same way, but owing to their mucilaginous coating the action is more prolonged and milder. During excretion mustard irritates the kidneys and causes diuresis.
† Colza and Carcel oil of commerce.