Encyclopedias & Dictionaries | Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 146) āmalaka, m. and ī f. (gaṇa gaurādi, Pāṇ. IV, 1, 41) Emblic Myrobalan, Gaertn.; (am) n. the fruit of the Emblic Myrobalan, MBh.; Suśr.; ChUp. &c.; (as), m. another plant, Gendarussa vulgaris, L. Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 514) dhātrī f. "female supporter", a nurse MBh. Kāv. &c.; midwife Hit. iv, 61; mother Yājñ. iii, 82; the earth Var. MBh. Hariv. &c.; Emblica Officinalis Var. Suśr. (some derive it fr. dhe cf. dhāyas and Pāṇ. 3-2, 181). [514,2] Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 2348) nelli: 1. Emblic myrobalan, m. tr., Phyllanthus emblica; 2. Fruit of emblic myrobalan, one of tiripalai Dymock, Warden, Hooper: Pharmacographia Indica (vol. III, pp. 261-263) Phyllanthus Emblica, Euphorbiaceae Fig.- Emblic myrobalan (Eng.), Emblic officinal (Fr.) The fruit of this tree is the DhÄtriphala, Amritaphala, Amalaka or Sriphala of the Nighantas, and is described as having all the properties of the chebulic myrobalan. It is used both fresh and dried; in the former condition it is considered to be refrigerant, diuretic and laxative; in the latter, astringent. It is pickled by the natives, and, on account of a peculiar flavour which it imparts, some of the forest tribes eat it before drinking water. A sherbet of the fruit, sweetened, with sugar or honey, is a favourite cooling drink for sick people; it is said to be diuretic. A country-side prescription for biliousness in the Concan is Avala, 4 massas, to be soaked all night in water, and in the morning to be pounded and mixed with a quarter seer of milk and flavoured with sugar and cumin. Emblic myrobalans are an ingredient in many compound preparations described in Sanskrit works. A selection of these prescriptions will be found in Dutt's Hindu Materia Medica; the following, translated from Chakradatta, may be taken as an example:- "DhÄtri lauha. -Take of powdered Emblic myrobalans 64 tolÄs, prepared iron 32 tolÄs, liquorice powder 16 tolÄs, mix them together, and soak in the juice of Tinospora cordifolia seven times successively. This preparation is given in jaundice, anaemia and dyspepsia, in doses of from 20 to 40 grains." Mahometan physicians esteem this myrobalan equally with the Hindus; they describe it as astringent, refrigerant, cardiacal, and a purifier of the humours of the body. It is much prescribed by them in fluxes, and is also applied externally on account of its cooling and astringent properties. The Arabic name is Amlaj, and the Persian Amala. Ainslie states that the flowers, which have an odour resembling that of lemon peel, are supposed by the Vytians to have virtues of a cooling and aperient nature, and are prescribed in conjunction with other articles in the form of an electuary. (Mat. Ind., ii., p. 244.) In the Pharmacopoeia of India it is stated, upon the authority of Dr. Ae. Ross, that the root by decoction and evaporation yields an astringent extract equal to catechu, both for medicinal purposes and in the arts; the chips of the wood or small branches thrown into impure or muddy water, according to the same authority, clear it effectually. In the Concan the juice of the fresh bark, with honey and turmeric, is given in gonorrhoea. Commerce. -Two kinds of Avala are found in commerce, one entire, and the other cut up, and the nut removed. The fruit is collected in many parts of India. Value, about Rs. 32 per candy of 7 cwts.
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