A methanol extract and an aqueous suspension of Ocimum sanctum inhibited acute as well as chronic inflammation in rats as tested by carrageenan-induced pedal edema and croton oil-induced granuloma and exudate, respectively. In both test procedures, the anti-inflammatory response of 500 mg/kg of methanol extract and aqueous suspension was comparable to the response observed with 300 mg/kg of sodium salicylate. Both the extract and suspension showed analgesic activity in the mouse hotplate procedure and the methanol extract caused an increase in the tail-withdrawal reaction time of a subanalgesic dose of morphine. Both preparations reduced typhoid-paratyphoid A/B vaccine-induced pyrexia. The antipyretic action of the methanol extract and aqueous suspension was weaker and of shorter duration than that of 300 mg/kg sodium salicylate. Oral premedication with the methanol extract and the aqueous suspension delayed castor oil-induced diarrhoea in rats.