A potometer measures how factors such as light, temperature, humidity, light intensity and wind will affect the rate of transpiration. The main type of potometer is the 'bubble' potometer shown in Figure Figure 6.
Physicians recommended against the practice because they did not want medicines associated with punishment. A heavy dose of castor oil could be used as a humiliating punishment for adults, especially political dissenters. Colonial officials used it in the British Raj (India) to deal with recalcitrant servants. Belgian military officials prescribed heavy doses of castor oil in Belgian Congo as a punishment for being too sick to work.
Castor oil is used as a laxative for constipation, to start labor in pregnancy, and to start the flow of breast milk. Some people apply castor seed paste to the skin as a poultice for inflammatory skin disorders, boils, carbuncles, pockets of infection (abscesses), inflammation of the middle ear, and migraine headaches.Castor oil is used topically to soften skin, bunions and corns; and to dissolve cysts, growths, and warts.ome people apply castor seed paste to the skin as a poultice for inflammatory skin disorders, boils, carbuncles, pockets of infection (abscesses), inflammation of the middle ear, and migraine headaches. Castor oil is used topically to soften skin, bunions and corns; and to dissolve cysts, growths, and warts.