In India, opium, that is, papaver somniferum, has been used as a phallic excitation, although a sixteenth century Dutch traveler, Linschoten, who was familiar with the East and the West Indies, asserted that it diminishes the libido. * * * * * A phallic application is costus arabicus, powdered raktabol, which is myrrh, borax, aniseed, and manishil, mixed with oil of sesame. * * * * * A lotion of juice of the roots of the madayanlika plant, the anjanika plant, yellow amaranth, the shlakshnaparni plant, and the clitoria ternateea. * * * * * A help in amatory experimentation is the following: The sprouts of the vajnasunhi plant are cut into small strips. They are then dipped in a mixture of sulphur and red arsenic, and dried seven times. The resultant powder is now burned at night; when the smoke rises, if a golden moon is observed behind the fumes, success will attend the erotic encounter. * * * * * A composition of long pepper, seeds of the plant sanseviera roxburghiana, and seeds of the plant hedysarum gangeticum, pounded and mixed with milk. * * * * * Various soups are advised, in Hindu erotology, as strengthing ministrants. Particularly so, soups in which the ingredients are cheese, or fish, or celery, or mushrooms, or lentils, or onions. * * * * * Dill, which botanically is anthum graveolens, is an Eastern ingredient for furthering the libido. * * * * * To Hindu erotologists, all amatory acts, the cult of the phallus, and erotic performances, are under the aegis of the triune god Trimurti. * * * * * Trapa bispinosa, which is a nut belonging in the water chestnut species, is frequently used in amatory composition. The paste is prepared from the seeds or roots of the trapa bispinosa, kasurika, tuscan jasmine, and liquorice, and a bulb called kshirakapoli. The whole is mixed with milk, ghee, and sugar: then boiled into a consistency. * * * * * Wine, in India, is considered conducive to priapic performance. But only, as among the Greeks and the Romans and the ancient Hebrews, when taken in moderation. Otherwise, excessive drinking of wine is an object of condemnation. A rule in Hindu ritual establishes the criterion of sufficiency: So long as the mind’s light flickers not, For so long drink! Shun the rest! Whoso drinks still more is a beast. * * * * *