Remarks on Bindaal, a New Remedy in the Treatment of Spleen Diseases

My first acquaintance with this remedy was in 1860, it having been brought to my notice by Dr. Garden, Civil Surgeon of Ghazeepore, who had at various times been in the habit of em. ploying it, in cases of enlarged spleen of long standing, with a fair measure of success. " Bundaal," or " bindaal," "kerula,"or " Luffa Echinata," is a cucurbitaceous plant or gourd ; it grows in hedges and dry uncultivated places. The fruit is small for the family, being about the size of a peach or walnut, and covered all over with straight, softish prickles. Bundaal has been rarely noticed by authors. Boyle states it to be " a powerful drastic in cases of dropsy," corresponding in qualities therefore to elaterium, which belongs to the same family. From very careful enquiries I have made among the natives, very few appear to be aware of the drastic properties of the drug ; none of its value in cases of enlarged spleen ; possibly the fact of Bundaal possessing other properties, besides that of a mere drastic, having been overlooked, is ascribable to the fact of observers bearing in mind {he rule that plants belonging to the same natural order have the same properties in