Encyclopedias & Dictionaries | Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 2149) nattam: 01 1. Growth; 2. Town, village; 3. Residential portion of a village; 4. Portion of a village inhabited by the non-Brahmins; 5. Land reserved as house-sites; 6. Place, site; 7. Plantain; 8. Reflexed-petalled giant swallow-wort.; 9. Gnomon of dial 02 1. Conch; 2. Snail 03 1. Night; 2. Darkness 04 Indian beech, .l .tr., Pongamia glabra Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 2305) nīrppuṅku: 1. Poonga oil tree, l tr., Pongamia glabra Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 1723) taṭṭaippuṅku: 1. Indian beech, l. tr., Pongamia glabra Dymock, Warden, Hooper: Pharmacographia Indica (vol. I, pp. 468-469) Pongamia Glabra, Leguminosae This is a handsome flowering tree with foliage like the Beech. Sanskrit writers call it Karanja and NaktamÄla or NaktamÄlaka, "garland of the night," and in Hindi it is sometimes called Sukhchain, "affording perfect satisfaction to the senses"; indeed, it well deserves these names, as nothing can be more beautiful than its drooping branches of shining green leaves laden with racemes of rose-coloured flowers. The seeds, leaves, and oil are used in Hindu medicine as a remedy for skin diseases and rheumatism and to destroy worms in sores. Chakradatta mentions a paste made of the seeds along with those of Cassia Tora and the root of Saussurea Lappa as a useful application to skin diseases. He also gives prescriptions for a compound oil and ghrita to be used for the same purpose (see Dutt's Mat. Med., p. 153), where the original prescriptions are given with a translation. Rheede notices the use of a bath prepared with the leaves, to remove rheumatic pains; and they appear to be in general use for this purpose. Ainslie says that the juice of the root is used for cleansing foul ulcers, and closing fistulous soles. He also notices the oil and its use in itch and rheumatism. Gibson speaks very highly of the oil as a remedy in scabies, herpes, and other cutaneous diseases of a similar nature; it should be mixed with an equal quantity of lemon juice and be well shaken, when it forms a rich yellow liniment which we have used successfully in porrigo capitis, pityriasis and psoriasis. In leprosy the natives prescribe the leaves with those of Plumbago, along with some pepper and salt, to be powdered and given in curds. Karanja is also an ingredient in several complicated prescriptions for epilepsy and abdominal enlargements. Dr. P. S. Mootooswamy mentions the use of the juice of the root with cocoanut milk and lime water as a remedy for gonorrhoea in Tanjore, and of the leaves (Ponga-illai, Tamil) in flatulency, dyspepsia, and diarrhoea. He also informs us that the broken rice is boiled with the leaves and those of Morinda citrifolia, dried in the shade, cleaned and crushed, and from this preparation a thin salt gruel is made to feed young children with instead of cow's milk, which is supposed to cause glandular enlargements of the abdomen. He has noticed the use of the flowers as a remedy for diabetes, and of the pods worn round the neck as a protective against whooping cough. (Indian Med. Gaz., 1888.) Dr. B. Evers has seen the seeds administered internally for the last named affection. The oil is in general use amongst the agricultural classes as a lamp oil.
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