Betel

(be’-tel) [E. Ind.]. A masticatory used in the East. A few grains of the nut of the Catechu palm, Areca C., are rolled up with a small amount of quicklime in a leaf of Piper betel, and chewed. It is tonic, astringent, stimulant, and aphrodisiac, and seems to increase the powers of endurance. Dose of fid. ext. f^j-iij (4.0-12.0). Unof. 145