CHIRETTA. HIND. Creyat root.
Kussub-uz-zerireh, ARAB. Create, . . . . FR.
Kalapnath, . . . BENG. Creyatta, Kriatt, HIND. Kala-megh, Maha tita, „ Kairata, . . SANSK. Toa-kha-kyi, . . BURN. Atadi, . . . . SINGH. Kiriat, CAN. Sherait-kuchi, . . TAM.
Kreat, . . . DOER. Nela vemu, . . . TEL.
Chiretta, or chirayta, or kriat, for all these pronunciations are in use, is the name given to several plants, all of them closely allied in medi cinal properties to gentian, for which several of them are perfect substitutes. Like gentian, chiretta promotes digestion, improves the appetite, and gives a tone to the system, without producing much stimulant effect,' or causing constipation. It contains a resin and yellow bitter matter, on which the activity of the plant depends. Its use is admissible in all inflammatory states of the intestinal canal, and in febrile diseases. The chiretta of the bazars is the produce of the several following plants :— Adeneina hyssopifolia, the Chas or small chi rayta, is common in various parts of Southern India, is very bitter, also somewhat laxative, and much used by the natives as a stomachic.
Agathotes chirayta, Don., Ophelia chirayta, Grissbach, Gentiana chirayta, Fleming, north of India, and Morung hills. All parts of the plant are extremely bitter, and are identical in composi tion with the common gentian. It is highly esteemed as a tonic and febrifuge all over India. It is a common and abundant plant in the bazar, supplied chiefly by the lower ranges of the Hima laya.
Andrographis panieulata (Justieia paniculata, Roxb.), Kalamegia, BENG. Kalupnath or Maha tita, litxu., is the genuine or original chiretta.
Chironia centauroides of Roxburgh (Erythriea Roxburghii, Don.), is another and powerfully bitter plant found in India.
Cieendia hyssopifolia (syn. Exacum hyssopi folia), common in various parts of the East Indies; the whole plant is bitter and somewhat laxative ; is used by the natives as a stomachic.
Exacum bicolor grows rare on the Neilgherries below Kotagherry, and abundant a mile below Nedawuttum, where it flowers during the autumnal months. This species enamels the swards of the Western Ghats with its beautiful blossoms, has the same bitter stomachic principles for which the Gentiana lutes is so much employed, and, it is believed, may be used with advantage in lieu of gentian for medicinal purposes. The infusion is a mild pure bitter. It is known in Mangalore as country creat, and sold there at 1 anna 6 pie per pound.
Exacum tetragona is another species of this genus, and is called Ooda chiretta, or purple chiretta.
Ophelia angustifolia, Don (0. Swertia, lloyle), is called pukarree chiretta, and is substituted for the true chiretta.
Ophelia. elegans, Wight, grows plentifully in several parts of the Madras Presidency ; is con sidered febrifuge by the native physicians, who prefer it to the Himalayan chiretta. It grows plentifully in the Jeypore zamindari of Vizaga patain, and is annually exported, as Silaras or 6elajit, to the value of about Rs. 2500. The infusion of 0. elegans has a powerful bitterness.
Ophelia alata and Ophelia ehiretta seem to be used similarly ; they grow in the Himalaya.
Villarsia Indica, V. artistata, and V. nym phitides occur in every part of India.
Chiretta may be regarded as a type of the simple bitters, so many of which have been em ployed in Europe as febrifuges. For such purposes it is employed in India, and it will do whatever a simple bitter can in stopping intermittents. Chiretta is of much service in convalescence from fever. It is one of the few articles of the Indian Materia 'Medics which is in every respect an adequate substitute for the corresponding Euro pean article. Chiretta is a useful vehicle for other remedies. It is the basis of the celebrated drogue amere, a compound of mastic, frankin cense, resin, myrrh, aloes, and crest root, steeped in brandy for a month, and the tincture strained and bottled. Chiretta is met with in a dried state, tied up in bundles, with its long slender steins of rt brownish colour, having the roots attached, and which have been taken up when the plant was in flower. It ill procurable in all native druggists' shops. Tho extracts of chiretta agree in being valuable bitter tonics. Both these and gentian contain a peculiar principle, termed the gentisic acid. The dose is ten to thirty grains twice or three times daily, usually prescribed with sarsa parilla, hemidesmus, or iron (Beng. Phar. p. 290). The wine of chiretta is cordial bitter and tonic in a dose of two fluid drachms. A compound tincture of crest is prepared by creat root six ounces, myrrh and aloes each one ounce, French brandy two pints ; macerate for three days, and strain. This preparation is equivalent to the celebrated drogue amere. Its effects are tonic, stimulant, and gently aperient. It is a valuable preparation in the treatment of several forms of dyspepsia and torpidity of the alimentary canal, in a dose of one fluid drachm to half an ounce. —Faulkner, Beng. Phar. ; On Chiretta, by Dr. Cleghorn ; Dr. J. L. Stewart.