Uses.--The three above-mentioned varieties of _L. vulgaris_, Ser., are commonly grouped under the name calabaza (gourd). All have the same action and hence the same therapeutic application. The green portion of the rind is bitter and possesses purgative and emetic properties. The decoction of the tender shoots is expectorant; in addition it appears to possess purgative properties and in India is used in jaundice. The part of the plant most generally used is the seeds, the tænifuge properties of which are well known. Its action, however, is not always certain, which may be as truly said of all other known tænifuges. The seeds have the advantage of lacking the disgusting taste characteristic of other remedies of the same class; the taste is almost neutral and a little sugar conceals it completely. The dose is unlimited; some take 15 grams, others as high as 100, and no unpleasant symptoms of any kind have been reported. The only precaution to be observed is to give the patient a purgative 1-2 hours after his dose. Heckel has analyzed the seeds and found a resin which he calls _pepo-resina_; it exists in the greenish pellicle that envelopes the embryo and appears to be the active principle of the seeds. Its dose is 0.80-1.00 gram (Dujardin-Beaumetz), the product of 250 grams of the seeds. The dose of 100 grams of the seeds mentioned above is very small, if the pepo-resin represents the entire active principle, for 100 grams of the seeds would only contain about 40 centigrams. Botanical Description.--A very familiar vine, clammy, pubescent and musk-scented; large leaves, long-stalked flowers, white petals, greenish veiny fruit usually club-shaped or enlarged at the apex, the hard rind used for vessels, dippers, and so forth. It is noteworthy that none of the tænifuge varieties mentioned bears yellow fruit. _Luffa Ægyptiaca_, Mill. (_L. pentandra_, Roxb.; _L. petola_, Ser.; _Momordica operculata_, Blanco.) Nom. Vulg.--Probably bears the same names as the _Trichosanthes_. Uses.--The root is a hydragogue cathartic even in minute doses. The fruit is emollient by virtue of the large quantity of mucilage it contains, but it is more interesting for other properties. When cut in two, deprived of epidermis and seeds, and washed until none of the mucilage remains, there is left a fibrous skeleton, a sort of skein of interwoven nets that constitutes the so-called vegetable sponge. It serves the same purpose as a sponge and has the advantages that its fibers do not rot and that they are easily kept clean. In view of its cheapness and plentifulness in the Philippines the above advantages should suffice to bring it into universal use for the toilet, for surgical purposes and for cleaning in general.