Dicotyledonous, Polypetalous. (continued 2)

The fruit yields a fixed oil, and by fermentation and distillation produces alcohol.

The root bark referred to is bitter and nauseous, if taken from the superficial roots—the part usually employed; the bark of the deeper parts is astringent by virtue of the contained tannin.

Jacobs analyzed the bark and isolated an amorphous resin of yellowish color and very bitter taste. It is soluble in alcohol, ether and chloroform, slightly soluble in sulphuret of carbon, insoluble in turpentine or benzin. He believes that it is the active principle of the root, and produces the anthelmintic action already mentioned: the proper dose is 0.20 centigrams to a child of 4 years, followed by a purge of calomel.

Botanical Description.—A tree, 30–40° high, with leaves alternate, compound, odd-pinnate; leaflets opposite, ovate, pointed, dentate. Flowers in large axillary compound panicles. Calyx, 5 sepals. Corolla, 5 petals, rose-colored within, lilac-colored without. Stamens 10, united into a cylindrical tube, expanded at both ends, the mouth 15-toothed. Anthers inserted near the apex of the tube, short, fleshy, bilocular. Ovary free, of 5 biovuled cells. Style of equal length with the tube. Stigma button-shaped. Fruit a drupe, about the size of a small olive, yellow when ripe, with a dark brown pit of 5 one-seeded cells.

Habitat.—Native of China; is cultivated in most gardens in the Philippines.

Dysoxylum Blancoi, Vidal. (D. salutare, F. Villar; Turroca virens, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Igiw, Agiw, Taliatan, Tag.; Ananag̃tag̃, Bakugan, Makasili, Vis.; Malabag̃aw, Pam.; Basiloag, Iloc.

Uses.—The bark of the trunk, dry and finely powdered, is used in doses of 1½–2½ grams as an emetic, and, according to Padre Blanco, its effect is very certain.

It is also a febrifuge, and Padre Mercado states that it cures “all forms of asthma, suffocative affections of the chest, and griping pains of the belly.” He also states that it yields marvelous results in malarial fevers, given during the cold stage in doses of 4–8 grams in water or wine in which it has macerated 12 hours. He also recommends its use before breakfast as an anthelmintic in lumbricoids, and finally attributes to it virtues as an emmenagogue.

Padre Blanco calls attention to the species D. schizochitoides, Turcz. (Turroea octandra, Blanco), Himamaw, Tag., as a substitute for D. Blancoi.

The Tagalo “herb-doctors” pretend that the part of the bark near the earth is doubly efficacious, for which reason they administer only that portion which is within one meter of the ground, giving it in the doses already mentioned.

Botanical Description.—Tree 16–20 meters high. Leaves glabrous, odd-pinnate, petioles very long; leaflets entire, opposite, short-petiolate, acute, oblique at the base. Flowers in axillary panicles. Calyx, 5 imbricated sepals. Corolla, 5 linear, lanceolate petals united at the base. Staminal tube, 10-toothed and 10-anthered. Ovary 5-celled, each cell containing two ovules. Style somewhat longer than the stamens. Stigma thick and depressed. Seed vessel globose, depressed, somewhat downy, 5-angled; with 5 compartments each containing 2 seeds.

Habitat.—Batangas and Laguna.

Sandoricum Indicum, Cav.

Nom. Vulg.—Santol, Tag.

Uses.—The santol is doubtless one of the best known fruits in Manila. The most savory portion is the center, which consists of seeds covered with a white pulp of a delicious flavor in the ripe fruit of good quality. The fleshy covering is edible only in the center of the fruit and only a very thin layer of that, the rest having very little flavor. The whole fruit is used in making a confection often prescribed as an astringent. Padre Mercado compares it very appropriately to the quince. The root of the santol is aromatic, stomachic and astringent, by virtue of which latter property it is used in Java in the treatment of leucorrhœa.

Botanical Description.—A tree, 30–40° high, well known in the islands. Leaves ternate; leaflets 4–5′ long, half-ovate, obtuse, entire, stiff and downy, the middle one elliptical. Flowers in panicles. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla much longer than the calyx, 5 greenish petals, linear and curved downwards. Nectary a cylindrical tube attached to the corolla for half its length, mouth 10-toothed, containing 10 sessile anthers. Style somewhat longer than the stamens. Stigma 5-parted. Fruit about size and form of a small apple, thick, brown, pericarp indehiscent, 5 or more one-seeded compartments.

Habitat.—Grows in all parts of the islands, commonly along the roads.

Carapa Moluccensis, Lam. (Xylocarpus granatum, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Tabigi, Nigi, Kalumpag̃ sa lati, Tag.; Migi, Pam.

Uses.—The seeds contain a yellow oil, bitter and astringent, with a characteristic odor, having a taste somewhat resembling the odor. In decoction they are used for diarrhœa and dysentery, on account, doubtless, of the tannin they contain. The dose is 1–2 seeds dried, pounded and infused with 200 grams of sweetened water.

The bark, also bitter, is said to be useful in fevers.

In America they extract an oil from the species of the C. Guianensis, Aubl., with which the negroes anoint themselves to keep away stinging insects. Wood soaked in this oil is also proof against insects.

Botanical Description.—This tree, 20° high, grows in swampy districts. Leaves opposite, abruptly pinnate. Two pairs of wedge-shaped leaflets, entire and glabrous. Petiole very short. Calyx inferior, 4–5-toothed. Corolla, 4–5 concave petals, slightly notched at the end. Nectary notched, ovate, 8–9-toothed. No filaments. Anthers equal in number to the teeth of the nectary and inserted between them. Ovary very thick, globose. Stigma shield-shaped. Drupe globose, resembling a very large orange, 5 chambers, each containing 1, 2 or more seeds, convex on one side and concave on the other, angular and much crowded. Testa hard and porous.

Habitat.—Common throughout the Archipelago.

Cedrela Toona, Roxb. (C. odorata, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Kalantas, Tag., Pam.; Lanigpa, Vis.

Uses.—The infusion of the flowers is antispasmodic. The trunk bark is an excellent astringent, and Dr. Waitz recommends it in extract as a treatment for infantile diarrhœa, for which I also have found it very useful. Blume says that it contains marked antispasmodic virtues, and Dr. G. Kennedy confirms it. Other physicians of India, among them Ros and Newton, have recommended the bark as a substitute for cinchona, given dry in doses of 30 grams.

Infusion.—

Bark dry, pounded 30 grams.

Water 150 grams.

Filter and add:

Syrup of cinnamon 20 grams.

Dose.—Several dessert-spoonfuls a day.

The powdered bark is very useful as an application to indolent ulcers which it instantly deodorizes; like powdered quinine it is used in the treatment of superficial gangrene.

Botanical Description.—A large tree. Leaves odd-pinnate. Leaflets oval, lanceolate, acuminate, entire, glabrous, 5–6 pairs. Flowers yellow, in terminal panicles. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla, 5 oblong petals. Stamens 5, free, inserted on the apex of a disk. Ovaries sessile, 5 many-ovuled cells. Style short. Stigma on a disk. Seed vessel coriaceous, 5 compartments, septicidal, 5-valved. Seeds compressed, pendulous, prolonged in a membranous wing.

Habitat.—Very common in the islands.

Celastraceæ.

Staff-Tree Family.

Celastrus paniculata, Willd. (C. alnifolia, DC.; C. Rothiana, Roem.; Diosma serrata, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Bilogo, Tag.

Uses.—I am not acquainted with the medicinal uses of this plant in the Philippines. In India, by means of a primitive system of distillation, they extract from the seeds a dark-colored oil of empyreumatic odor, which under the name of Oleum nigrum was once proclaimed by Dr. Herklots as the sovereign remedy for beriberi.

This oil in doses of 10–15 drops a day is a very powerful stimulant, the action of which is manifested by profuse perspiration several hours after its administration. Malcolmson reports that it has given him good results in several cases of beriberi, particularly in recent cases and those in which nervous and paralytic symptoms predominated. In Concan, the juice of the leaves is given in doses of 30 grams as an antidote for opium. The bruised seeds made into a paste with cow urine are used locally in treatment of itch. They are also used in the treatment of leprosy, gout, rheumatism, and other diseases which according to their medical theories, are derived from “cold humors.” For these purposes they give the seeds internally, beginning with one and increasing daily until 50 are taken. At the same time they make external applications of the oil or of another compound prepared in the following way:

Place in an open pot with one opening, seeds of C. paniculata, cloves, benzoin, nutmeg and mace. The pot having been previously heated, is covered with another, inverted over the opening. On the sides of the latter a thick black oil condenses which Herklots very appropriately named Oleum nigrum.

Botanical Description.—A climbing shrub, 6–9° high, without spines. Leaves 6–7′ long by 5′ broad, alternate, petiolate, entire, glabrous, half-ovate. Flowers small and paniculate. Calyx, 5 divisions. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 5, inserted in a disc. Anthers oblong. Ovary 3-celled. Stigma 3-lobulate. Style short. Seed vessel the size of a pea, globose, 3-celled, loculicidal, with pulpy seeds.

Habitat.—Tayabas, Laguna, Ilocos North, San Mateo, Albay. Flowers in April.

Rhamnaceæ.

Buckthorn Family.

Zizyphus Jujuba, Lam. (Rhamnus Jujuba, L. & Blanco; Z. Mauritania, Wall.)

Nom. Vulg.—Manzanitas, Sp.-Fil.; Jujube Fruit, Eng.

Uses.—The small fruit known commonly as manzanitas has an agreeable taste, although ordinarily offered for sale before they are quite ripe. They are among the most popular dainties at the fairs and festivals in the provinces of Manila and are the only part of the plant used in medicine. They possess emollient qualities and are official in the codex. They enter in the composition of the so-called pectoral remedies (composed of equal parts of figs, dates, Corinthian raisins and manzanitas).

Botanical Description.—A shrub, with hooked thorns, leaves alternate, petiolate, coriaceous, entire, 3-nerved, 2 thorny stipules, one of them crooked. Flowers small, greenish, axillary. Calyx, 5 oval divisions. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 5, free. Ovary bilocular, situated on the disc. Styles 2–3, divergent; small papillary stigmas. Drupe pulpy, globose, resembling a crab-apple in size and taste, enclosing a hard, 2-celled seed.

Habitat.—Common in all parts of the islands.

Rhamnus Wightii, W. & Arn. (Ceanothus Wightiana, Wall.; R. Carolianus, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Kabatiti, Tag.

Uses.—The dried trunk bark is the part employed in medicine. Hooper analyzed it in 1888 and found a crystalline principle (0.47%), a brown resin (0.85), a red resin (1.15), a bitter principle (1.23), sugar, starch, calcium, oxalate, etc.

As the active principles exist in the resins, an alcoholic tincture of the latter is the best preparation for administration. In India it is used as a tonic and an astringent.

Botanical Description.—A small tree that grows near the sea coast. Trunk 9–12° high, straight, many-branched, devoid of thorns. Leaves alternate, ovate, acutely serrate, glabrous, short-petioled. Flowers greenish-white, axillary, perfect. Calyx 5-toothed, inversely conical. Corolla, 5 petals, smaller than the teeth of the calyx, oval, without claws, notched at the apex. Disc fleshy, smooth, slightly concave. Stamens 5, hidden within the petals. Filaments flattened. Anthers rounded. Ovary fleshy, inserted at the bottom of the calyx tube. Style short. Stigmas 3, divergent. Fruit oval, its base adherent to the calyx, 3 seeds.

Habitat.—Batangas. Blooms in July and October.

Anacardiaceæ.

Cashew Family.

Mangifera Indica, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Manga.

Uses.—The dried and pulverized kernel of the seed is used as an anthelmintic in doses of 1½–2 grams both in India and Brazil. The same preparation is used in the Philippines in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhœa and its effect is doubtless due to the large quantity of tannin it contains. It is administered as follows: The pounded kernels of 20–25 seeds are brought to a boil in 2 bottles (sic) of water. When the liquid has evaporated a third, it is removed from the fire, cooled, decanted, and again placed on the fire after adding three to four hundred grams of sugar. This time it is allowed to boil till reduced to one bottle. The dose is 50–60 grams 2–3 times a day. Incisions in the trunk exude a brownish resin which solidifies in the air, is slightly acrid, bitter, dissolves in alcohol and partially in water. In Malabar it is given internally in the treatment of diarrhœa and dysentery, mixing it with white of egg and opium. But the curative value of the combination is more likely due to the albumen and opium than to the resin. Dissolved in lemon juice it is a useful application in the itch. The trunk bark is astringent and is employed in decoction as a wash for ulcers and eczema and as an injection in leucorrhœa.

The fruit is one of the most highly prized in the Philippines, and resident Europeans are able to eat large quantities of it without ill effects unless the fruit is over-ripe, in which case it often causes transient diarrhœa, which should be treated with a mild purge.

In Mauritius the following compound powder is used in dysentery:

Dried slices of manga fruit 30 grams.

Dried manga kernels 60 grams.

Plantain seeds 15 grams.

Dried ginger 8 grams.

Gum arabic 15 grams.

Pulverize each ingredient separately; add powdered candy sugar 30 grams.

Mix.

Dose.—For an adult one dessert-spoonful every 4 hours; may be given in cauge or arrowroot.

The flowers, testa and bark are, in Hindoo therapeutics, considered “cold,” and “astringent,” and are used especially in diarrhœa. In certain throat affections the Hindoos employ the burning leaves for inhalation. They also use the gum made by evaporating the juice of the ripe fruit, as a confection and an antiscorbutic. Dr. Linguist recommends the bark as a local astringent in uterine, intestinal and pulmonary hemorrhage and employs the following:

Fluid Extract.—

Fluid extract of manga bark 10 grams.

Water 120 grams.

Mix. Dose, 1 teaspoonful every 1 or 2 hours.

Botanical Description.—A noble tree, 30° to 40° high, dome-like or rotund in outline. Leaves dark green, lustrous, alternate, lanceolate, entire; short petioles. Flowers racemose, in verticillate panicles. Calyx, 4, 5 or 6 sepals. Corolla white, fragrant, 4, 5 or 6 petals. Stamens 5, of which perhaps 1, 2 or 3 are fertile. Style on one side of the ovary. Stigma simple. Fruit large, reniform, fleshy, yellow when ripe; contains a large, flattened, reniform pit. Blooms from January even till June. The natives force the fruit by building fires under the trees when but little air is stirring.

Habitat.—Common throughout the islands.

Anacardium occidentale, L. (Cassuvium reniforme, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Kasuy, Tag.; Caskew Nut, Eng.

Uses.—The pericarp of the nut contains an essential oil which is very irritant and used by the Hindoos as a vesicant; it severely blisters the lips and tongues of imprudent persons who break the nut without taking the precaution of cleansing it of the oil before opening it. In addition to the oil called cardol, the pericarp contains an especial acid anacardic, a little tannin and ammonia. Cardol (C₂₁H₃₁O₂) is an oleaginous, yellow liquid very unstable, neutral, soluble in alcohol and ether, insoluble in water, volatile, and vesicant if applied to the skin. “Anacardic” acid is white, crystalline, odorless, with a burning, aromatic taste. It melts at 26° and decomposes at 200° forming a colorless oil; it is not vesicant, burns with a dark flame, and has the odor of rancid oil. A tincture of the pericarp has been made (1 part to 10 of alcohol) and given internally as a vermifuge in doses of 2–10 drops. Cardol, according to some authors, does not exercise a vesicant action in the gastro-intestinal canal, because it is not dissolved by the gastro-intestinal juices; I am sure, however, that I have seen a choleraic diarrhœa brought on by swallowing, in fun, the pericarp of one nut and a half. Cardol is eliminated by the urine.

The kernel is edible and has a very agreeable taste when roasted. By expression it yields a sweet, yellowish oil, density 0.916.

The trunk exudes a gum resin in masses varying in color from red to yellow.

The fleshy part, called the fruit, is edible but contains a certain quantity of cardol not only evidenced by the odor but by the smarting of the mouth and throat after eating. It is very juicy and the expressed liquid is fermented in Bombay and distilled to make a very weak alcohol which sells for the very low price of 4 annas (5 cents gold) a gallon. This alcohol is again distilled and a stronger obtained which sells for 1½ rupees a gallon. The Portuguese of India make a sort of wine from the fermented juice of the fruit, which, like the weak alcohol we have mentioned, is a well-known diuretic and is used as a liniment.

The gum resin of the trunk contains 90% of anacardic acid and 10% cardol. Wood soaked in it is preserved from the ravages of insects, especially of white ants, for which purpose it is used by bookbinders also. Therapeutically it is used externally in leprosy, old ulcers and to destroy corns, but on account of its rubefacient and vesicant qualities it is necessary to use it cautiously.

Botanical Description.—A tree, 18° high, with leaves cuneiform, glabrous, stiff, short-petioled. Flowers polygamous in terminal panicles. Calyx with 5 erect segments, imbricated, caducous. Corolla, 5 linear, lanceolate petals, curved and imbricated. Stamens 8–10, all fertile. Filaments united to one another and to the disc. Ovary heart-shaped. Style filiform and eccentric. Stigma defective. Ovule solitary. Fruit a reniform nut enclosed in a pulpy pyriform body, formed by the matured disc and extremity of the peduncle. Seed reniform, testa membranous.

Habitat.—Common throughout the Archipelago. Blooms in February.

Odina Wodier, Roxb.

Nom. Vulg.—Amugis, Tag. and Vis.

Uses.—The bark is very astringent and in decoction is used for chronic ulcers. In India Dr. Kirkpatrick has used it as a lotion in impetigo. It has also given good results as a gargle in affections of the pharynx and buccal cavity.

The trunk exudes a gum called in India “kanni ki gond,” an article of commerce. It is almost odorless and has a disagreeable taste. It is only partially soluble in water, forming a viscid mucilage. It is used in the treatment of contusions and sprains and is edible when mixed with cocoanut milk.

Botanical Description.—A tree, with leaves bunched at the extremities of the branches, oblong, oval, acuminate, odd-pinnate, 3–4 pairs of opposite leaflets. Flowers greenish-white, polygamous, in terminal panicles. Calyx gamosepalous, 4 rounded lobules. Corolla, 4 imbricated petals. Stamens 8, free. Ovary 4-parted. Pistillate flowers; ovary sessile, oblong, unilocular. Style 4-parted, thick. Drupe oblong, compressed, unicellular. Testa hard, with 1 non-albuminous kernel.

Habitat.—San Mateo.

Moringeæ.

Moringa pterygosperma, Gaertn. (M. oleifera, Lamk.; M. poligona, DC.; Guilandina Moringa, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Malug̃ay, Kamalug̃ay, Kalug̃ay, Tag.; Dool, Malug̃it, Vis. and Pam.; Horse Radish Tree, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—The root is vesicant and the Filipinos bruise it and use it for sinapisms. I have often observed, however, that it is quite painful used in this way. Dr. Waitz states that it is a good plan to add a few drops of the root juice to mustard sinapisms, a proceeding which seems to me superfluous, especially in the case of children as he advises it.

The Bengal pharmacopœia contains the following official preparations:

Compound Spirit.—

Small pieces of moringa root }

Orange peel} āā 600 grams.

Nutmeg 20 grams.

Spirit of wine 4½ liters.

Water 1 liter.

Mix and distil 4 liters.

Dose.—8–30 cc. as a stimulant and diuretic.

Compound Infusion.—

Moringa root, small pieces, bruised}

Mustard seed} āā 30 grams.

Boiling water ½ liter.

Let stand 2 hours, filter and add compound spirit. 30 grams.

Dose.—30–60 grams a day, as a strong stimulant.

The expressed seeds yield a fixed oil, which is irritating and in my opinion should not be used internally.

The green pods, the flowers and the tender shoots of the leaves are eaten stewed. The juice of the leaves is given internally in India, as an emetic, in doses of 30 grams.

Botanical Description.—A well-known tree, 5–6 meters high. Leaves 3-pinnate, their terminal divisions odd-pinnate. Leaflets oval, glabrous, entire. Calyx, 5 unequal petaloid segments, imbricated, caducous. Corolla white, 5 unequal petals. Stamens inserted on the border of a disc, unequal, 5 opposite the petals bearing anthers, 5 alternate without anthers. Anthers dorsal, unilocular. Ovary pedunculate, lanceolate, unilocular, with many ovules in 2 series, inserted on the parietal placentæ. Fruit a pod terminating in a beak, 3-valved. Seeds numerous, very large, winged, embedded in a spongy substance.

Habitat.—Common throughout the islands. Blooms in November.

Leguminosæ. (Papilionaceæ.)

Pulse Family.

Agati grandiflora, Desv. (Sesbania grandiflora, Pers.)

Nom. Vulg.—Katuray, Tag.

Uses.—The flowers are edible. They and the leaves are purgative and are given in decoction for this purpose, 30–40 grams to 200 of water. The juice of the flowers is a popular remedy in India, for migraine and coryza. The trunk bark is bitter and tonic.

Botanical Description.—A tree, 4–6 meters high, with drooping limbs; leaves long, very narrow, abruptly pinnate; many caducous leaflets, linear, elliptical. Flowers large, white, fragrant, in axillary racemes. Calyx bell-shaped with two indistinct lips. Corolla papilionaceous, white. Standard oval, a slight notch at the apex. Wings almost as large as the keel which is strongly arched. Stamens 10, diadelphous. Anthers uniform. Style and stamens equally long. Stigma a small head. Pod 1–2° long, linear, 4-sided, containing many oval seeds, separated by filamentous partitions.

Habitat.—Grows in all sections of Luzon and Panay.

Abrus precatorius, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Saga, Sagamamin, Bag̃ati, Tag.; Bag̃ati Gikosgikos, Vis.; Kanaasaga, Pam.; Bugayon, Iloc.; Jequiriti, Prayerbeads, Eng.

Uses.—The part of the plant most important in therapeutics is the seed, the size of a small pea, bright red with a black spot, hard and shining. The Filipino children use them to make rosaries and other decorations. In the distant past the Filipinos used these seeds to weigh gold, a practice followed even to-day by the Hindoos. The famous Susrutas, author of the “Ayur Veda,” recommends them internally for nervous diseases; modern therapeutics, however, limits their use to one disease, though that is frequent and stubborn enough, namely chronic granular conjunctivitis.

Some physicians state that these seeds are poisonous and others the contrary, but the fact that they are used as food among the poor classes of Egypt, demonstrates their harmlessness in the digestive tract at least; when introduced into the circulation they undoubtedly exercise a toxic effect. We have already mentioned that their use is limited nowadays to the therapeutics of the eye; the decoction of the seeds known in Europe under the name of “Jaqueriti”—so named in Brazil—produces a purulent inflammation of the healthy conjunctiva and it is precisely this counter-irritant effect which makes it useful in chronic granular conjunctivitis, the persistence of which has defied the most heroic measures of therapeutics. The French oculist, Dr. de Wecker, was the first to employ jequirity for this purpose, in the form of a 24 hours’ maceration of the seeds, 10 grams to 500 grams of water. It is necessary to use a product recently prepared and with this several applications a day are made. It is now known that the inflammation of the healthy conjunctiva is not caused by germ-life contained in the solution but by an inorganic ferment discovered by Bruylans and Venneman and named jequiritin; they state that it is produced during the germination of the seeds or of the cells in the powdered seeds. Warden and Waddell, of Calcutta, have isolated an essential oil, an acid named “ábric” and an amorphous substance called abrin, obtained by precipitation with alcohol from a watery infusion of the pulverized seeds. Its action is identical with that of “jequiritin.”

The infusion appears to possess considerable value as a stimulating application to indolent ulcers.

The root is a good substitute for licorice, is emollient and has an agreeable taste. The extract is useful in catarrhal diseases of the bronchi and in dysuria. The leaves contain the same properties as the root and an extract prepared from them is used as a substitute for licorice.

Botanical Description.—A vine, with leaves opposite, abruptly pinnate, a stylet taking the place of the terminal leaflet. Leaflets linear, entire, glabrous, tipped with a small point. Common petiole with 2 awl-shaped stipules at the base. Flowers in small racemes. Calyx gamosepalous, caducous, 4–5 short teeth. Corolla papilionaceous, wings horizontal. Stamens 9, monadelphous with bilocular anthers. Style very short. Stigma globose. Pod 4–5 cm. long, truncate at the ends, with 5–6 red seeds, each with a black spot.

Habitat.—Common in all mountainous regions of the islands. Grows near houses and roads.

Mucuna pruriens, DC. (M. prurita, Hook.; M. utilis, Wall.; Dolichos pruriens, L.; Carpopogon pruriens, Roxb.)

Nom. Vulg.—Nipay, Lipay, Vis.

Uses.—The pods are official as an anthelmintic in the Pharmacopœia of India. They are used in the form of an electuary triturated to the proper consistency with honey or syrup. The dose for adults is one soupspoonful, and for children a teaspoonful, given every morning for 3–4 consecutive days. The last day a purge is given to expel the lumbricoids.

Botanical Description.—A vine with ternate leaves. Flowers red, keel larger than the standard and wings. Pods about as thick as the little finger, lacking transverse grooves, curved in the form of the letter f, covered with bright red down, which causes an unendurable itching. They are divided into 3 or 4 oblique cells each containing a brown, shiny seed.

Habitat.—Luzon and Panay.

Erythrina Indica, Lam. (E. corallodendron, L.; E. carnea, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Dapdap, Kasindik, Tag.; Dapdap, Kabrab, Vis.; Dapdap, Sulbag̃, Pam.; Indian Coral Tree, Eng.

Uses.—This tree is well known on account of the beauty of its crimson flowers. The decoction of the leaves is a useful cleansing and deodorizing application for ulcers. The bruised leaves are used locally in painful affections of the joints and to abort syphilitic buboes and abscesses of all kinds. The juice of the tender leaves is used in Concan to destroy maggots in ulcers, and the powder has a similar use. A decoction is used locally in ophthalmia.

The root and the leaves are used as a febrifuge in the Philippines and in India, according to Wight. In Brazil the bark is given in small repeated doses as a hypnotic and in the Philippines as a diuretic and purgative; a decoction of the leaves is similarly used. The bark contains an alkaloid discovered by Rochefontaine and Rey, called erythrin, which acts upon the central nervous system, diminishing its normal functions even to the point of abolishment, without modifying motor excitability or muscular contractility. W. Young isolated a glucoside, migarrhin, similar to saponin, but possessing the additional property of dilating the pupil.

In bronchitis with dyspnœa the following infusion of bark is very useful:

Fresh bark, }

Freshly bruised leaves, } āā 2 grams.

Water 1,500 grams.

Boil till reduced one-half, filter and add:

Simple syrup 200 grams.

Dose: Wineglassful every two hours.

Botanical Description.—A large tree, 20° high, thorny, with ternate leaves. Leaflets rhomboid, broad, entire, glabrous. Secondary petioles: that of the middle leaflet long, bearing 2 glands, those of the others short, bearing 1 gland each. The leaves fall at the end of the rainy season and the flowers bloom. They are a handsome scarlet color, large, in terminal racemes. Calyx half-cylindrical, oblique, truncate, entire. Corolla papilionaceous; standard elongated, lanceolate. Wings short. Keel very short, 2-lobuled. Stamens diadelphous. Anthers large. Ovary woolly. Stigma thick. Pod curved, rounded, furrowed in parts corresponding to the seeds which are numerous, oval, pointed at the ends.

Habitat.—Common throughout the islands. Blooms in February.

Clitoria ternatea, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Kolokantig̃, Pakingag̃, Tag.; Kolokatig̃, Vis.; Butterfly-pea, Eng.

Uses.—The pounded seeds mixed with oil are used locally for painful joints. They possess purgative and emetic properties and Dr. J. Shartt has employed a mixture of the powdered roasted seeds, 8 grams, with double the quantity of acid tartrate of potassium. Its action is gentle, but sure. The alcoholic extract of the root, a soft, brown, resinous substance with an odor recalling that of jalap, is a very active cathartic, producing sharp effects in doses of 30–60 centigrams; in fact it produces such severe tenesmus that its use in such doses should not be recommended.

The root bark is used internally in an infusion (4–8 grams to 1 liter of water) as an emollient in irritability of the bladder and urethra and has been recommended for such a purpose by Mooden Sheriff. It is a diuretic which frequently acts as a purgative, a fact that is not surprising in view of the above-mentioned properties of the alcoholic extract.

The roasted seeds used as a purgative are so trustworthy that they deserve the further attention of physicians.

Botanical Description.—A vine very well known by its blue flowers. Leaves alternate with 3 pairs of oval leaflets. Stipules persistent. Flowers axillary, solitary, 1–1½′ in long diameter. Calyx in 5 acute divisions, the two upper ones smaller. Corolla papilionaceous. Standard open, notched at the end. Keel shorter than the wings and covered by them. Stamens 10, 9 united and 1 free. Stigma downy, thick. Pod full of short hairs, with more than 6 surrounded with a tow-like substance, reniform, with black spots.

Habitat.—Common along the roads and in gardens. Flowers in July and November.

Nom. Vulg.—Narra, Naga, Tag.; Apalit, Daytanag, Pam.; Red Saunders or Red Sandalwood Tree, Eng.

2. P. Indicus, Willd. (P. pallidus, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Asana, Tag.; Naga, Vis.

3. P. erinaceus, Poir. (P. echinatus, Pers. & DC.)

Nom. Vulg.—Asana, Narra, Tag.

Uses.—The wood of the first is the so-called “red sandalwood.” It is used for building purposes and, in medicine, as an astringent. In decoction it is used as a gargle for sore throat. The second is also an excellent building material and is used medicinally for its astringent properties. A decoction of sufficient strength to color the water a light blue is used as a mouth wash in toothache and has some reputation as a solvent of vesical calculi. All three species yield a resin known in pharmacy under the name of “kino.” The true gum kino is really produced by the P. marsupium, Roxb., but the Philippine product, especially that of the second and third species, has for a long time been exported to Europe under the name of “red astringent gum” or “kino.” This name is given to the sap of these trees dried without the aid of artificial heat. The bark is the part which produces it and the following extractive process is employed in Madras: a vertical incision is made in the trunk and lateral incisions perpendicular to it and a receptacle is placed at the foot of the tree. This soon fills and when the gum is sufficiently dried by air and sun it is packed in boxes and exported.

In respect to appearance, solubility and chemical composition, Flückiger and Hanbury were unable to discover any difference between the kino of P. marsupium, Roxb., and that of P. erinaceus, Poir. It is therefore interesting to consider a product that is identical with that described in the pharmacopœias as produced by the P. marsupium, Roxb., though the latter does not grow in the Philippines.

Kino is at present used but little in therapeutics and its action is analogous to that of tannin and catechu. It is given internally for its astringent effect in chronic diarrhœa, leucorrhœa, blenorrhœa and hemorrhages. The dose of the powder is 1–4 grams, and of the alcoholic tincture, containing 20 parts kino to 100 of alcohol, 5–10 grams. In prolapse of the rectum and anal fissure the following solution is used by enema:

Kino 3 grams.

Water 500 grams.

For vaginal injections a solution of 20 to 250 water.

Botanical Description.—The “pterocarpus,” L., is a tree of the first order with odd-pinnate leaves. Leaflets alternate and coriaceous. Flowers yellow, in racemes, with caducous bracts and bractlets. Calyx turbinate, with short teeth. Petals exserted, markedly unguiculate. Standard and wings curled. Keel obtuse with its petals slightly or not at all coherent. The staminal tube, cleft above and below or above only. Stamens superior, often almost, and at times entirely, free. Anthers versatile. Ovary pedunculate, with 2 ovules. Style curved. Stigma terminal. Pod orbicular, smooth or spiny, usually containing one seed, encircled by a broad, rigid wing, the point curved downward.

Habitat.—In the mountains of Luzon, Panay and Mindoro. Blooms in March.

Pongamia glabra, Vent. (Robinia mitis, L.; Gadelupa maculata, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Balikbalik, Tag.; Butog̃, Vis.

Uses.—The oil expressed from the seeds is used in India for lighting purposes, and in addition is of notable therapeutic value. It is an excellent local remedy for the itch, for herpes and especially for pityriasis versicolor, used alone or emulsified with lemon juice. In stubborn cases Dymock recommends the addition of oil of hydrocarpus, camphor and powdered sulphur. Dr. Gibson states that he knows of no plant in the vegetable kingdom possessing more notable curative properties in itch, herpes and other cutaneous diseases than the plant under consideration. It is also used as an embrocation in articular rheumatism.

The powdered leaves mixed with common salt and pepper are given internally with a little milk, as a remedy for leprosy.

The juice of the root makes a useful wash for gangrenous ulcers and a good injection for fistula.

Botanical Description.—A tree, 18° high, with leaves opposite, odd-pinnate. Leaflets in 3 pairs, ovate, lanceolate, entire, glabrous and membranaceous. Flowers slightly spotted, racemose. Calyx bell-shaped, with 5 scarcely visible toothlets. Corolla papilionaceous, petals equal, clawed. Standard with 2 callosities athwart the base. Stamens 10, diadelphous. Pod with one seed, which is flat, smooth, veined, bright red.

Habitat.—Luzon and Panay. Blooms in October.

Leguminosæ.

Brasiletto Family.

Cæsalpinia Bonducella, Flem. (Guilandina Bonducella, L.)

Nom. Vulg.—Bayag-Kambig̃, Kalambibit, Tag.; Dalugdug, Vis.; Fever Nut, Physic Nut, Bonduc Seeds, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—The seed is the part of the plant employed and is official in the Pharmacopœia of India. It is used as a tonic and antiperiodic in intermittent fevers and in general where tonic treatment is indicated. It has given good results in the malarial fevers of India, according to English physicians. The Pharmacopœia of India contains the following preparation under the name of “Compound Powder of Bonduc” (Pulvis bonducellæ compositus).

Seeds of Bonduc, powdered 30 grams.

Pepper 30 grams.

Mix and keep in a well-corked flask.

Dose.—1–2 grams 3 times a day.

In the Philippines the powdered seed is given in affections of the digestive tract, especially in diarrhœa and feeble digestion. The same name of Bonduc is given to the seeds of another species that grows in the Philippines, C. Bonduc, Roxb.; Kamot-Kabag, Bayan-Kambig̃, Tag. The seeds are identical in chemical composition and therapeutic indication.

The two principal substances contained in the seeds are an oil, 24% and a resin, 1.88%. The former is straw-colored and slightly bitter by virtue of the presence of a resin that may be precipitated by alcohol. The resin or bitter principle exists as an amorphous powder, white, bitter, not acrid, soluble in chloroform, alcohol, acetone, crystallizable acetic acid, fixed and essential oils; slightly soluble in ether and bisulphide of carbon, insoluble in water and petroleum ether. The alkalies do not affect it. It melts at 140°, decomposing and leaving only a carbon. Its discoverers, Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen, have given it the name bonducin (C₁₄H₁₅O₅). Hydrochloric acid colors it red; sulphuric acid, a maranthin red in half an hour.

Bonducin seems to be the active principle of the seeds and is given internally in doses of 10–20 centigrams; according to Dr. Isnard, of Marseilles, this dose has given as good results in fevers as the same quantity of quinine.

Botanical Description.—A shrub with prostrate stem bristling with thorns. Leaves twice abruptly pinnate, a thorn taking the place of the terminal leaflet. Leaflets in 10–14 pairs, ovate, expanded, with a spine at the apex. Common petioles thorny, with 4 leaf-like stipules at the base. Flowers yellow, in racemes. Calyx 5-parted, curved downward. Corolla inserted on the calyx, 5 petals, 4 nearly equal, the uppermost broader and shorter. Stamens 10. Filaments very unequal in height, inserted on the calyx, united and woolly at the base. Pistil very short. Stigma thick. Pod rhomboidal before maturity, prickly, containing 2 semi-globose seeds with testa hard, mottled and tough.

The other species, C. Bonduc, Roxb., is distinguished by leaflets unequal at the base, by the absence of stipules, and by the bright orange yellow seeds.

Habitat.—Common in Luzon, Panay and Joló. Blooms in December.

Cæsalpinia Sappan, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Sibukao, Sapag, Tag.; Palo del Brasil, Sp.; Sappan Wood, Eng.

Uses.—The decoction of Sibukao is given in hemorrhages, especially of the lungs. It is probably the red color of this decoction which originated the idea of giving it to check bleeding, and this is the practice of the native Filipino doctors, as well as of the Arabs and Hindoos. The natives of Cochin China, reasoning in an opposite manner, prescribe it as emmenagogue. Some authors recommend Sibukao as a substitute for logwood. The decoction is administered in chronic diarrhœa, especially that of children. A few cases of phlebitis have been reported as occasioned by its use. The extract is made as follows:

Sibukao in small pieces 500 grams.

Boiling water 4½ liters.

Macerate for 24 hours, boil until reduced by half, filter and evaporate the filtrate to a syrupy consistency. Do not use iron vessels.

Sibukao contains much tannin and gallic acid, and a peculiar substance which distinguishes it from logwood, brasilin (C₂₂H₂₀O₇), which gives a red color to alkaline solutions instead of blue or purple. It is a crystalline pigment which may be considered a compound of hematoxylon and fenol.

Botanical Description.—A very common tree, 12–15° high, with spiny trunk, leaves twice abruptly pinnate. Leaflets linear, notched at the apex. Flowers racemose. Calyx boat-shaped. Corolla, 5 petals, the uppermost broad, short, spotted red. Stigma bifid. Pod sabre-like, woody, with 3–4 seeds separated by partitions. The wood is well known everywhere in the Philippines, being a very important article of commerce, and there is no fear of logwood being substituted for it, as the latter is more expensive, and substitutions are not ordinarily made under such circumstances. In commerce it occurs in large pieces of all shapes and forms, since the branches and trunks are cut into pieces which vary from 1/2–2 meters in length. Its color is reddish-yellow or white with more or less red grain. Blooms in September.

Cæsalpinia pulcherrima, Swartz. (Poinciana pulcherrima, L. & Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Flores y Rosas Caballero, Caballero, Sp.-Fil.; Barbadoes Flower-Fence, Eng.

Uses.—The leaves are emmenagogue, purgative like those of senna, and excitant. The bark especially is a powerful emmenagogue, used in some countries for criminal purposes. The decoction of the flowers is pectoral and febrifuge and is given in bronchitis, asthma and malarial fever. The flowers contain a bitter principle. The roots are acrid and poisonous. The seeds of the green fruit are eaten frequently by children; when ripe they contain gallic and tannic acids, by virtue of which they are used in tanning hides and to dye yellow combined with alum, and black combined with salts of iron. They also contain a pigment and a resin.

Infusion of the Flowers.—

Flowers of the caballero, dry 20 grams.

Water 500 grams.

Sugar 70 grams.

Mix. Dose, a wineglassful several times a day.

Botanical Description.—A shrub, with prickly trunk. Leaves twice abruptly pinnate. Leaflets 5–8 pairs, glabrous, ovate and elliptical, bearing a spine at the extremity, 3 stipules to each pair of leaflets. Flowers yellow and red, in racemes on the ends of the branches. Calyx divided almost to the base, with 5 concave parts. Corolla, 5 petals 1′ long with short claws, one petal very small and straight, the others larger, with wavy edges. Stamens 10, crimson, 3′ long, free, woolly, united at the lower end. Pistil the same length as the stamens. Stigma somewhat concave. Ovary sessile, unilocular, many-ovuled. Pod compressed, with 7 or more seeds inserted on the superior suture and separated from each other by fleshy divisions.

Habitat.—Very common in gardens where it is cultivated for its beautiful flowers. Blooms throughout the entire year.

Cassia fistula, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Cañafistula, Sp.; Lombayog̃, Ibabaw, Baloyog̃, Vis.; Purging Cassia, Eng.

Uses.—The pod known in pharmacy under the name of “Cañafistula” contains a blackish, sweet pulp, which is a mild purgative if combined with carminatives, but it produces severe colic if given alone. The urine sometimes takes on a dark color after taking it. The laxative dose is 4–8 grams, the purgative 30–60.

Extract of Cassia.—

Pulp and seeds of ripe pods 1 kilo.

Water 1 liter.

After mixing the pulp with water the liquid is strained through a woolen cloth; the material which remains in the strainer is washed with a little more cold water which is added to the other liquid and the two are evaporated to the consistency of the extract.

Dose.—15–30 grams.

Dr. Irving states that the root is a very energetic purgative. In Concan the juice of the tender leaves is used in the treatment of impetigo.

Botanical Description.—A tree with trunk about as thick as the human body, with leaves opposite and abruptly pinnate. Leaflets, the lower ones smaller, 5 pairs, ovate, lanceolate, glabrous and rather tough. Common petiole, cleft at the base, lacking glandule. Flowers bright yellow, in long, pendulous racemes. Calyx, 5 ovate sepals. Corolla, 5 unequal petals. Stamens 10, free, 3 longer than the rest. Ovary unilocular, many-ovuled. Pod cylindrical, pointed at the end, woody, black, 1–2° long, with many circular seeds, surrounded by a blackish pulp and separated by partitions.

Habitat.—Common in Luzon and Panay. Blooms in March.

Cassia occidentalis, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Tighiman, Balotag̃aso, Tag.; Tambalisa, Vis.; Western Senna, Styptic Weed, Eng.; Negro Coffee, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—In Brazil they use an infusion of the root as a tonic and diuretic, 4 grams of the root bark and 180 of boiling water to be taken in one day. In Dahomey the leaves are used as a febrifuge. Thirty grams of fresh leaves are boiled in 300 grams of water till the liquid is reduced to 250 grams. The patient takes this decoction hot the first day of the fever and a profuse perspiration promptly breaks out. As a rule the effect is immediate and the fever does not recur. This treatment of fevers is more common in that country than that by quinine and they claim that it has the advantage over the latter of acting as a stomachic tonic. By adding a small quantity of the roots to the decoction it is rendered diuretic. The seeds possess the same properties and are used in decoctions of 30 grams to 300 of water. According to De Lanesan the roasted seeds are used in La Réunion in infusion similar to coffee in the treatment of gastralgia and asthma. In some countries they mix them with coffee just as chicory is used in Europe.

Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen have made a very complete study of the plant and we quote the following from their works:

Chemical composition of the seeds.—

Water 8.850

Fats and pigments soluble in petroleum ether 1.600

Fats and pigments soluble in chloroform 1.150

Odorous material and traces of tannin 5.022

Glucose 0.738

Gummy, mucilaginous and pectic matter 15.734

Soluble albuminoids and aleuron 6.536

Cellulose 7.434

Insoluble albuminose 2.216

Lignose 32.727

Fixed salts 17.976

Lost material .017

100.000

Previous to the studies of the above authors the seeds had been therapeutically tested by Delioux de Savignac and Professor Clouet. Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen have confirmed the febrifuge virtues of the seeds and are uncertain as to the active principle since they found no glucoside or alkaloid in their analysis. The antiperiodic properties are comparable with those of quinine and have even proved effective in some cases in which quinine failed. It seems quite clear that the tannin is the active principle which is the more probable because its anti-periodic virtues are now recognized by all therapeutists.

It is given in maceration or infusion, 2–15 grams of the seeds to 3 or 400 of water to be taken several times a day. The treatment causes no very marked physiological effects. It seems to act as a sedative to the nervous system.

Botanical Description.—An annual plant, .60–1 meter high. Root central with lateral rootlets. Stem straight, ramose. Leaves opposite, abruptly pinnate with a stylet in place of the odd leaflet. Leaflets, 5–6 pairs, the lower ones smaller, ovate, oblong, margins and lower face downy. Common petiole swollen at the base, 2 stipules and 1 glandule. Calyx, 5 unequal sepals. Corolla, 5 nearly equal petals, sulphur yellow, concave, the posterior one further developed. Two verticils of 5 stamens each. Of the 5 stamens superior to the sepals, 2 are fertile, larger and arched; of the other 5 stamens 4 are fertile and small. Pod compressed, linear, smooth, 5′ long, containing many compressed, heart-shaped seeds, separated by thin partitions.

Habitat.—Common in Luzon. Blooms in October.

Cassia alata, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Acapulco, Sp.-Fil.; Katandá, Gamut sa Buni, Sontig̃, Tag.; Suntig̃, Kansitás, Vis.; Pakayomkom-kastila, Pam.

Uses.—This is one of the most popular Philippine remedies and its usefulness is vouched for by many physicians practicing in many different lands. Its antiherpetic properties are notable and the Tagalo name of the plant, “Gamut sa Buni,” means literally “medicine for herpes.” The natives use the juice of the leaf applied locally to the affected part. These properties have long been familiar to the Malays and to the Hindoos who in their medical works give the plant the Sanscrit name of “Dadrughna,” meaning “to cure herpes.” The Pharmacopœia of Bengal recommends cassia in the form of an ointment made by mixing the crushed tender leaves with simple ointment. This preparation is, in our opinion, undesirable on account of its liability to become rancid and vaseline should be the excipient used. Another application for herpetic eruptions is the juice of the leaves mixed with an equal quantity of lemon juice. The Malays use the leaves dried in the sun, adding to them a little water and rubbing them briskly on the affected parts, the vigorous treatment being an important part of the cure.

The decoction of the leaves is a laxative and according to Mr. J. Wood the tincture has an action similar to that of senna. Dr. Pulney Andy of India states that the extract prepared from the tender leaves is a good substitute for extract of colocynth.

Mr. A. Porte claims to have obtained the best results with an acetic extract of the fresh leaves. The following is his formula:

Fresh leaves of C. alata 100 grams.

Acetic acid diluted in ⅔ water 450 grams.

Macerate 10 or 12 days, filter and express, then filter again and evaporate to the consistency of an extract.

The seeds contain vermifuge principles.

The activity of this plant in herpes is due to the chrysophanic acid contained in it. The more recent the eruption the more certain is the effect.

The following species, all of which grow in the Philippines, contain principles analogous to those of the C. alata, viz.: C. sophera, L. and C. tora, L., called in Tagalo manimanihan.

Botanical Description.—A shrub, 7–9° high, with a straight, ramose trunk 3–4′ in diameter. Leaves 1½–2° long, opposite, abruptly pinnate, a thick stylet taking the place of the odd leaflet. Leaflets 10–13 pairs, the smaller ones 1–2′ long. Common petiole with 2 horizontal stipules at the base. Flowers in conspicuous, erect racemes. Calyx, 5 free concave, unequal sepals. Corolla, 5 petals of a beautiful yellow color. Stamens perigynous, 10 in number, 3 upper ones very small and frequently sterile, 3 lower very large. The bilocular anthers open by 2 pores. Ovary many-ovuled with filiform style. Pod long with 2 prominent wings on the sides and many seeds which slightly resemble a cross with blunt ends.

The C. sophera, L., is characterized by 10 stamens, all fertile and a smooth, linear, bivalved pod full of seeds separated by false partitions. The C. tora, L., bears a quadrangular pod about 15 centimeters long by 2 in diameter.

Habitat.—Grows in all parts of the islands and is universally known by the natives. Blooms in May.

Tamarindus Indica, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Tamarindo, Sp.; Sampalok, Tag., Pam., Bik.; Sambak, Sumalagi, Kamalagi, Vis.; Tamarind, Eng.

Uses.—The pulp of the fruit is used to make a sort of sweet preserve and is very popular among the Filipinos. They prepare a refreshing drink from the pulp mixed with sweetened water and believing it to be beneficial to the liver, stomach and blood, they use too much of it. Its excessive use is rather prejudicial to the health, but given in moderation it is very efficient in allaying the thirst of fever patients. The pulp contains weak laxative properties and it is customary to administer it in solution with cream of tartar. Its chemical composition is as follows:

Citric acid 9.40

Tartaric acid 1.55

Malic acid 0.45

Potassium bitartrate 3.25

Sugar 12.50

Gum 4.70

Vegetable gelatin 6.25

Parenchyma 34.35

Water 27.55

(Vauquelin.)

At the end of any sickness, especially after labor, the first bath given to the convalescent is with a decoction of the leaves of the “sampaloc,” to prevent convulsions, the native herb-doctors say.

Botanical Description.—A large tree, somewhat resembling the elm in contour, with leaves opposite, abruptly pinnate. Leaflets 12 or more pairs, linear, with a notch at the apex, entire, glabrous. Flowers yellow-white, spattered dark red, racemose. Calyx, 4 sepals. Corolla, 5 lanceolate petals with crispate borders. Stamens monadelphous, dividing into 7 filaments above. The ripe pod is chocolate color, oblong, slightly compressed, straight or curved, 6–15 centimeters long, full of a light-brown pulp in which rest the seeds enveloped in a cellular membrane. These seeds are flattened, almost quadrangular; testa hard, of a chestnut color, shiny and without albumen.

Habitat.—Very common everywhere in the islands. Blooms in May.

Bauhinia malabarica, Roxb. (B. tomentosa, Wall. and Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Alibag̃bag̃, Tag., Vis., Pam.

Uses.—The leaves of this tree and of the species B. tomentosa, L., are quite acid and the Filipinos use them as an ingredient of many dishes. The fresh flowers possess anti-dysenteric virtues for which purpose they are given internally in infusion of 10–20 grams of the flowers to one-half liter of water. The decoction of the root bark is a common remedy for liver troubles along the coast of Malabar according to Rheede.

Botanical Description.—A tree 20° high, with leaves alternate, peltate, slightly cordate, orbicular, the apex divided into two large lobules with a stylet between them, glabrous above, somewhat downy beneath; 2 large, flat glandules are situated at the base. Petioles short. Flowers cymose. Peduncle long. Calyx inferior, funnelform, with 4–5 sepals as long as the corolla. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 10, 5 alternate ones longer than the others. Stigma thick, peltate, 2 lobules. Pod 1° long, with linear stalk, containing many seeds separated by filamentous isthmuses.

Habitat.—Common everywhere. Blooms in November.

Leguminosæ.

Mimosa Division.

Entada scandens, Benth. (E. Pursœtha, DC. and Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Gogo, Tag.; Bayogo, Balogo, Gohog̃ bakay, Vis. and Pam.; Gilla Nuts, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—The use made of the mashed bark of this tree is well known throughout the Philippines. Cut in strips and beaten thoroughly between stones it is sold under the name of “gogo”; it is macerated in water, to which it imparts a reddish color, and forms a substitute for soap. The Filipinos use this preparation for bathing, especially the hair, for which purpose there is no more useful or simple preparation. It cures pityriasis, and renders the hair very soft, without drying it too much as is usually the case with soap. The natives use it in treating the itch, washing the affected parts with the maceration and at the same time briskly rubbing them with the bark; in this way they remove the crusts that shield the acari. The treatment is successful in direct proportion to the energy of rubbing.

The seeds of “gogo” are very large, lenticular, flattened, 3–4 centimeters in diameter. Their chemical composition has been studied by Pettit. Alcohol dissolves the active principle, perhaps a glucoside, the study of which the author has not completed. Five centigrams of this substance administered to a guinea-pig causes paralysis of the hind quarters without any apparent inflammation. He also found saponin in the seeds, but it exists in much greater quantity in the trunk. In the Sunda Islands they eat the seeds roasted and also extract from them an illuminating oil.

The maceration of gogo is emetic and purgative; it is used in the treatment of asthma; it is exceedingly irritating, the slightest quantity that enters the eye causing severe smarting and a slight conjunctivitis for one or two days.

Botanical Description.—A high climbing shrub with stem as much as 7–8′ in diameter. Leaves opposite, twice abruptly pinnate, a stylet replacing the terminal leaflet; 5 pairs of elliptical leaflets, entire, glabrous and notched at the apex. Common petiole with 2 stipules at the base. Flowers in delicate spikes. Calyx obliquely truncate, 5-toothed. Corolla, 5 oval petals much larger than the calyx. Stamens 10–13. Filaments longer than the corolla. Anther with 1–2 white, globose glandules. Pod woody, 4–6° long by “4 fingers” broad, with large notches on the borders, many compartments containing many large, compressed, circular seeds with dark-colored testa, 3–4 centimeters in diameter.

Habitat.—Mountains of Luzon and Panay. Blooms in May.

Parkia Roxburghii, G. Don. (P. brunonis, Grah.; P. biglobosa, Benth.; Mimosa peregrina, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Kopag̃, Tag.

Uses.—The fruit is edible. Its pulp is golden yellow with a sweetish taste and an odor like that of violets.

The roasted seeds are used in certain parts of Africa to make an infusion like coffee, for which reason they have been called “Soudan Coffee.”

The pulp was analyzed by Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen in 1887; it contains 60% of its weight of sugar (a mixture of dextrose and levulose), 0.98% of free tartaric and citric acids, fats, albuminoids, etc.

Botanical Description.—A large tree of the first order. Leaves opposite, twice abruptly pinnate. Leaflets small, linear, more than 40 pairs. Principal petiole with one glandule at the base and often another higher up. Calyx long, tubular, with 5 unequal lobules. Corolla, 5 equal petals. Stamens 10, monadelphous. Ovary free, unilocular, multi-ovulate. Pod, 1° × 1′, woody, much compressed, brown, with many seeds embedded in a yellow pulp.

Habitat.—Abounds in the provinces of central Luzon. Blooms in December.

Acacia Farnesiana, Willd. (A. Indica, Desv.; Mimosa Farnesiana, L. and Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Aroma, Sp.; Cassie Flower, Eng.

Uses.—The trunk bark is astringent and in decoction is of use in the treatment of prolapsed rectum and as an injection for leucorrhœa. A poultice of the tender leaves is applied to ulcers and sores previously washed with the decoction.

The tree exudes an abundant gum very similar to gum arabic which latter is the product of another species of acacia (A. Arabica, Willd.). The Manila pharmacist, D. Anacleto del Rosario, sent to the Paris Exposition of 1899 a specimen of this gum obtained on the plantation of D. P. P. Roxas, in Batangas. This specimen differed in no respect from gum arabic and it will surely sooner or later take the place of the latter in the Philippines, both for pharmaceutical and industrial purposes. It would be superfluous to describe here the properties of gum arabic.

Botanical Description.—A small tree 9–12° high, very well known, trunk bristling with long thorns. Leaves twice abruptly pinnate. One or more pairs of leaflets, very small, linear. Common petiole with two thorns united at its base and a small glandule on the upper part. Flowers yellow, aromatic, axillary, joined in a globose head ½–¾′ in diameter, consisting of more than 50 minute flowerets. In each axil are 2 peduncles. In some heads all the flowerets are staminate, in others hermaphrodite. The hermaphrodite flowers have a calyx with 5 small teeth. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 40 or more. Pistil same length as the stamens. Staminate flowers: calyx, corolla, stamens and anthers as in the hermaphrodite flowers. Pistil none. Pod round, curved, with 8 or more elliptical, compressed seeds.

Habitat.—Grows everywhere, but forms dense thickets in the provinces of La Laguna and Batangas. Blooms in January.

Crassulaceæ.

Orpine Family.

Kalanchoe laciniata, DC. (Cotyledon laciniata, Roxb.; Bryophyllum serratum, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Siempreviva (Live-for-ever), Sp.-Fil.; Katakatakā, Tag.

Uses.—The fleshy leaves are beaten up and applied to chronic ulcers and sores on which they exert a stimulant action. Applied to the temples they relieve headache. Ainslie testifies to the good effect of its local use in inflammations and as a wash for ulcers. The juice of the leaves is used in Concan in the treatment of bilious diarrhœa and gall stones.

Botanical Description.—A well-known plant, about 2° high, with leaves sessile, opposite, oval, serrately toothed, fleshy. Flowers yellow, in umbels, the stalks reaching a height of 3°. Calyx very short, with 4 lanceolate, acuminate sepals, united at the base. Corolla salver-shaped, persistent, with border having 4 small lobules. Stamens 8, fertile. Ovaries 4, free, each with 1 many-ovuled cell. Styles same length as the stamens. Stigmas awl-shaped. Four seed vessels, each with 1 compartment containing many oblong seeds.

Habitat.—Common in all parts of the islands.

Combretaceæ.

Terminalia Catappa, L. (T. molucana, Lam.; T. mauriciana, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Talisay, Tag.; Almendro, Sp.-Fil.; Talisay, Banilak, Nato, Hitam, Vis.; Kalisay, Pam.; Lugo, Pandan, Iloc.; Indian Almond, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—The kernel is edible and has a very agreeable taste. It yields about 50% of a fixed oil, sweet and savory. If left for some time, it deposits an abundance of stearin. It closely resembles oil of sweet almonds for which it, as well as the oil of Pili (Canarium commune, L.), which we have already described, makes a good substitute.

The trunk bark is astringent and in decoction is used for atonic diarrhœa and as a lotion for ulcers.

Decoction.—

Bark (ground and pounded) 12 grams.

Water 150 grams.

Simple syrup 40 grams.

To be given by the tablespoonful in 24 hours.

Botanical Description.—A tree, 6–8 m. high. Branches horizontal and radiating from the trunk. Leaves purplish, bunched, cleft at the base, sometimes transversely ovate, sometimes oval, notched, glabrous. Petiole very short. Flowers axillary, racemose, with a scale at the base of the peduncle, some hermaphrodite and others lacking pistils. Staminate flowers: calyx downy within, with 5 lobes. Corolla wanting. Stamens 10, inserted on the calyx. Hermaphrodite flowers: pistil same length as stamens. Drupe, fleshy, inferior, oval with the borders turned upward containing a very hard and fibrous nut; seed long and sharp-pointed.

Habitat.—Common in Luzon. In Manila it is cultivated extensively as an ornamental tree, especially along the Sabana Walk, General Solano Ave. and in Sampaloc and Malacañan.

Terminalia Chebula, Retz. (T. reticulata, Toth.; Bucida cuminata, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Dig̃las, Diglas, Tag.; Black Myrobalan Tree, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—The ripe fruit, called myrobalans in India, is purgative and six of them pounded up and given in decoction operate with certainty, producing 4 or 5 copious evacuations without nausea or other disagreeable symptoms. Dr. Waring has experimented with them and recommends them highly. The taste may be made more agreeable by adding a little cinnamon to the decoction. Dymock states that three fruits are sufficient, and Dr. Hove gives one as the effective dose. This lack of agreement may be explained by the fact that the fruits are of different sizes, and probably Waring refers to those of medium size. Contrary to what one would imagine, judging from its purgative action, the fruit contains astringent principles, and makes an effective injection for leucorrhœa as a substitute for nut galls. It is also of some merit in the treatment of piles.

The green fruit is highly esteemed by Radja Kalikesen as a carminative, tonic and purgative. Dr. Twining also mentions these same properties, recommends it as a tonic and aperient of great benefit in atony of the digestive organs and expresses surprise that the Europeans make no use of it. According to the same author a dose in the treatment of diarrhœa and dysentery is 4 grams twice a day. He quotes a case of hypertrophy of the spleen which he cured with this fruit.

Some of the leaves bear horn-shaped galls, flattened, narrow and hollow. They are caused by an insect which stings the leaves and deposits its eggs in them. These leaves with galls are astringent and very useful and effective in dysentery and diarrhœa, especially that of children. The dose for a child of more than one year is 0.40 to 0.50 gram a day, administered in fractional doses every two or three hours.

Fridolin has obtained from its fruit an acid, which he calls chebulinic (C₂₈H₂₅O₁₀) and presumes to be a mixture of tannic and gallic acids. As Stenhouse had formerly indicated, no principle has been discovered to which the purgative properties can be attributed, unless it be a green oleo-resin turned red by nitric acid, obtained from the fruit by Apery.

Botanical Description.—A tree of the second order, with leaves 3′ long, alternate, lanceolate, entire and glabrous. Petioles short. Flowers terminal, in spiked panicles. Calyx superior, bell-shaped, colored, downy within, 5-toothed. Corolla wanting. Stamens 10, longer than the calyx. Anthers roundish. Ovary cylindrical. Style curved and longer than the stamens. Stigma simple. Fruit ovoid, 2–4 centimeters long, 5–10 acute angles, wrinkled, with blackish, hard, compact mesocarp; contains 1 seed.

Habitat.—Batangas, San Mateo. Blooms in May.

Quisqualis Indica, L. (Q. villosa, Roxb.; Q. spinosa, Nares.)

Nom. Vulg.—Tagaraw, Niogniogan, Tag.; Tangolon, Vis.; Babebabe, Pam.; Tartaraw, Iloc.

Uses.—The fruit contains a kernel that tastes much like cacao, for which reason the Tagalogs call it “niogniogan” (like cacao). This kernel is a powerful anthelmintic, used also in India, the dose for a child of 4 years being 2–4, pulverized and mixed with a little molasses or sugar. A large dose produces hiccough, a fact well known to the natives. Dr. Bouton states that they may cause convulsions and other similar nervous disorders.

They yield a light green, fixed oil, probably the active principle of the plant.

Botanical Description.—A climbing shrub, 6–9° high, whose stem is thickly set with long, opposite thorns. Leaves in stars of 3, oblong, acute, entire, glabrous. Petioles very short. Flowers white, veined with red, in axillary spikes. Calyx very long, nearly cylindrical, 5-toothed. Corolla, 5 petals, inserted between the teeth of the calyx. Stamens 10, inserted on the calyx-tube, shorter than the corolla, arranged in 2 series, 5 higher than the rest. Style the same length as the stamens, united throughout nearly its entire length with the wall of the calyx-tube from which it separates near the stigma. Stigma rather bulky. Fruit 1′ long, ovoid, 5 sharp ridges in the woody, fragile, mahogany-colored pericarp, which contains a pointed kernel at one end.

Habitat.—San Mateo, and along the shores of Luzon. Blooms in May.

Myrtaceæ.

Myrtle Family.

Psidium pomiferum, L. (P. aromaticum and P. pyriferum, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Guayabas, Sp.; Bayabas, Guayabas, Tayabas, Tag., and other dialects; Guava, Eng.

Uses.—The green fruit is acid and very astringent. The stage of development when it is best eaten raw, is just before it ripens, for then its acidity has lessened, it is not astringent and does not emit the strong odor, so disagreeable to many, that characterizes the ripe fruit. When fully ripe it is sweet, non-astringent and very bland, and this is the stage when it is best for making the jellies and preserves so popular in the Philippines.

The bark, especially that of the root, is highly astringent and a decoction of it is used for diarrhœa and as a wash for ulcers. Dr. Waitz has successfully used the following formula in treating the chronic diarrhœa of children:

Root bark of guava 15 grams.

Water 180 grams.

Boil till reduced one half. Dose, a tablespoonful every 2 or 3 hours according to age.

A decoction of the shoots is very useful in stomatitis, cutaneous eruptions and ulcers. Dr. Waitz advises his formula in prolapsus recti of children. It is also of value as an injection in diarrhœa and dysentery.

Botanical Description.—A tree, about 10° high, branches square and somewhat winged towards the ends. Leaves opposite, oblong, obtuse, downy, aromatic in odor. Petiole very short. Flowers axillary, solitary, white and fragrant. Calyx adherent, the border breaking in 3, 4 or more unequal parts when the flower expands. Corolla, 5–6 petals, inserted on the calyx, curved downward. Stamens numerous, inserted in the calyx, as long as the corolla. Style same length as stamens, awl-shaped. Fruit somewhat pear-shaped, with 4 or 5 ribs that disappear at maturity, 4 or more cells each with many small, hard, irregular seeds. In the Philippines the fruit grows to the size of a small pear.

Eugenia Jambolana, Lam. (Calyptranthes Jambolana, Willd. and Blanco; Syzygium Jambolanum, DC. and Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Lomboy, Duhat, Duat, Tag., Pam., Vis.; Jambul or Black Plum, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—The ripe fruit, so dark a purple in color that it seems black, is edible and very popular in the Philippines, though not considered choice. Some suppose it to be harmful, but it is in reality very easy of digestion.

The syrup of the fruit juice, and the decoction of the trunk bark are both very efficacious in the treatment of diarrhœa and dysentery.

Syrup of Jambul.—

Juice of ripe fruit 500 grams.

White sugar 950 grams.

Dissolve in a covered water-bath, strain through woolen cloth and put aside.

Dose.—60–200 grams a day.

The juice of the leaves is also used to treat diarrhœa. A Hindoo physician, Bhavaprakasa, advises the following receipt:

Juice of leaves of lomboy }

Juice of leaves of manga } āā 4 grams.

Pulp of Terminalia chebula }

Give in one dose in a little goat’s milk and honey.

A sort of wine of very agreeable taste is made from the fruit juice. Lately the powdered seed has been recommended in the treatment of glycosuria or at least it has been stated that its internal use lessens and finally abolishes the glucose from the urine of the patient. It has even been affirmed that while under this treatment the patient may eat glucose-forming foods without fear of glycosuria supervening.

The chemical composition of the seeds are as follows:

Essential oil Traces.

Chlorophyl and fatty matters 0.37

Resin soluble in alcohol and ether 0.30

Gallic acid 1.65

Albumin 1.25

Pigment soluble in water 2.70

Water 10.00

Insoluble residuum 83.73

100.00

Dujardin-Beaumetz has tested the therapeutic value of these seeds in diabetes but with negative results. Scott has maintained that by adding the powdered seed to a mixture of malt and starch, fermentation is impeded; but Dr. Villy in the laboratory of Dujardin-Beaumetz has demonstrated that such is not the case. Contrary to the opinions of those physicians who stated that “jambul” was capable of causing the glucose to disappear from the urine of diabetic patients without concurrent diabetic regimen, Dujardin-Beaumetz observed in his trials of the drug that the slightest relaxation of the regimen was followed by an increase of glucose. Under the influence of the medicine in doses of 2–10 grams daily, at the same time maintaining a strict diabetic diet, the Parisian therapeutist noted that the glucose disappears from the third to the fifth day; but this occurred only in cases of medium intensity, whereas in severe cases the medication produced no effect. Upon stopping the treatment the sugar reappeared.

Botanical Description.—A tree, 15–20° high, with leaves opposite, acute, entire, ovate, lustrous, very smooth. Flowers in racemose panicles with peduncles opposite. Calyx superior, with 5 small teeth and a deciduous cover composed of many orbicular pieces joined below. Corolla none. Stamens numerous, inserted on the edge of the calyx. Stigma pointed. Fruit black, oval, crowned with the calyx; one long cylindrical seed with membranaceous epidermis.

Habitat.—Common all over the Archipelago. Blooms in February.

Melastomaceæ.

Melastoma malabatrichum, L. (M. obvolutum, Jack.; M. aspera and obvoluta, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Granatis, Tag.

Uses.—A decoction of the leaves is of use as an astringent in diarrhœa and dysentery. A decoction of the bark is used as a gargle for aphthæ and catarrhal sore throat, and as a wash for ulcers and the itch.

The fruit is edible, resembling slightly the currant; it has doubtless received the name “granatis” on account of its many seeds.

Botanical Description.—Small tree, with opposite branches, their ends covered with hairs. Leaves opposite, 3-nerved, 1′ long, very rough with short hairs. Flowers carmine, in terminal panicles. Stamens 10. Filaments alternating violet and straw-color.

Habitat.—Mountains of Angat and San Mateo.

Lythraceæ.

Loosestrife Family.

Ammannia vesicatoria, Roxb. (A. baccifera, L.; A. Indica, Lam.; A. debilis and Celosia mana, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Bias pogo, Tag.; Blistering Ammannia, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—The leaves contain an irritant and acrid principle that renders them vesicant when applied to the skin. The Pharmacopœia of India quotes Sir W. O’Shaughnessy to the effect that plasters made of the bruised leaves even when renewed every half hour require 24 hours to raise a blister and at the same time cause severe pain. He found it much more painful than cantharides and much less prompt to act. Dr. Dymock has prepared an ethereal tincture of the leaves and obtained with it results very different from those just mentioned; this is not surprising in view of the fact that the tincture holds in solution in a small quantity of ether, a considerable amount of the vesicant principle. This tincture has the same color as the “epispastic” of the English Pharmacopœia, causes less pain and rapidly raises a good blister, facts of which I have convinced myself by the use of a small quantity sent me from Bombay in 1891.

Dr. Bholanauth Bose recommends the internal use of the juice of the leaves as a remedy for chronic diseases of the spleen; this treatment, however, has caused severe pain and is absolutely uncertain in effect.

In Concan the juice of the leaves is given mixed with food to animals in heat, for its anaphrodisiac action. The fresh or dried plant is given in decoction mixed with ginger in intermittent fevers.

If the ethereal tincture be evaporated a resinous residue remains that has not been studied, but appears to be the vesicant principle. This tincture should be made from the dried leaves to avoid hydration of the ether.

Botanical Description.—A small plant with stem red, straight, quadrate, ramose. Leaves opposite, lanceolate, and fringed with hairs. Flowers axillary, small, red, solitary. Peduncles short. Calyx inferior, bell-shaped, with 8-toothed border, the 4 alternate teeth larger. Corolla none. Nectary bell-shaped, surrounding the ovary, shorter than the calyx, with 4 toothlets which lengthening form the filaments of as many stamens. Anthers 4-celled. Ovary of 4 pluriovulate locules. Style almost wanting. Stigma fluted. Seed vessel glabrous, horizontally dehiscent, containing 15 or more angular seeds joined to a common axis.

Habitat.—It grows in the marshes of Mandaloyon.

Lawsonia alba, Lam. (L. spinosa, L.; L. inermis, Roxb.)

Nom. Vulg.—Cinamomo del país (native cinnamon), Sp.-Fil.; Henna, Camphire, Samphire, Indo-Eng.

Uses.—This is a very popular plant in the Orient, for many races use its leaves to impart a reddish-yellow stain to the nails, finger tips and palms of the hands. There is a tradition among the Mohammedans that the Prophet once called this plant “the best of all herbs.” The leaf in form of a dry powder is sold in the bazars of India under the name of “henna”; mixed with water it gives it a yellow color, and when boiled the tone of the liquid becomes darker; the addition of an alkali turns it brown. In Persia they add indigo to this solution and use it as a hair dye.

The Hindoos apply the bruised leaves to the soles of the feet of small-pox patients, their purpose being to prevent the spread of the eruption to the eyes. They also use it locally in a disease known among them as “burning of the feet.” Grierson and Waring obtained good results in this disease by making a paste of the bruised leaves and vinegar; cases that resisted such treatment yielded completely to a brisk rubbing of the feet with a simple paste of the leaf. The decoction and the bruised leaves are also used locally for contusions.

The bark has been given in jaundice, hypertrophy of the spleen, calculi of various sorts, leprosy and stubborn skin diseases, as an alterative. In decoction it is applied to burns.

An English physician, Dr. Newton, made an extract of the leaves and flowers with which he pretended to cure leprosy; it was but one more useless drug in the long list used to combat that terrible disease. The dose of the extract is a teaspoonful daily, given in 2 doses.

The juice of the leaves is given in sweetened water in some countries as a remedy for spermatorrhœa.

The flowers are given in decoction for headache and the fruit is emmenagogue.

Botanical Description.—A small tree, about 12° high. Leaves opposite, lanceolate, broad, entire, glabrous and tough, the edges turned downwards. Flowers yellowish-white, terminal in racemose panicles with opposite peduncles. Calyx inferior, bell-shaped, 4 acute sepals. Corolla, 4 petals, longer than the calyx. Stamens 8, inserted by pairs on the segments of the calyx, alternating with and longer than the petals. Anther kidney-shaped. Ovary at the bottom of the calyx. Styles of the same length as the stamens. Stigma obtuse. Seed vessel a little larger than a pea, globose, 4 chambers, many seeds.

Habitat.—Common all over the Archipelago. Blooms in July.

Punica Granatum, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Granada, Sp. and Fil. dialects; Pomegranate, Eng.

Uses.—The decoction of the tender leaves is used as a gargle and wash in angina, aphthæ, and wounds within the buccal cavity.

The peel of the fruit is highly astringent and in decoction is a useful agent in treating chronic diarrhœa, and locally in injections of lotions for leucorrhœa and inflamed hæmorrhoids. It should not be given when rectal tenesmus exists. The Pharmacopœia of India contains the following formula for preparing the decoction of the peel:

Pulp of the fruit, mashed 60 grams.

Water 600 grams.

Boil for 15 minutes in a covered vessel, cool, filter and add water enough to make a liter. Dose, 30–50 grams per diem.

This preparation is also used in astringent gargles and injections. For internal use the decoction is rendered more active by adding a small quantity of cloves or cinnamon. This mixture with the addition of opium gives excellent results in the treatment of diarrhœa among the natives of India and is highly recommended by Dr. Kirkpatrick.

The most important part of the pomegranate, however, is its root, the bark of which is a very efficient tænifuge and the most astringent portion of the plant. It should be used fresh, as drying destroys its activity and gives negative results. Many failures to expel the tænia are probably due to this fact. According to Béranger-Féraud the root gives 25% to 40% of cures, whereas pumpkin seeds give but 5% to 10%.

Decoction.—(French Codex.)

Fresh bark of pomegranate root 60 grams.

Water 750 grams.

Macerate 6 hours, boil over slow fire till reduced to 500 grams. Strain. Administer fasting, in 3 doses half an hour apart. The evening before the patient should eat a light meal and take a cathartic in order that the intestinal canal may contain the smallest possible quantity of fæcal matter. After taking the third dose of the decoction the patient should take a mild purgative such as 30 grams of castor oil to expel the tænia. This preparation has a most disagreeable taste. It is better to give the “tannate of pelletierine,” a compound of tannin and one of the alkaloids that Tanret discovered in pomegranate root. A sufficient dose of tannate of pelletierine is 30–40 centigrams in wafer form, followed by a purge and with the other precautions and preparatory measures mentioned above. It causes toxic symptoms similar to those produced by curare, according to the experimental studies of Dujardin-Beaumetz and Rochenière. Its action is upon the ends of the motor nerves. A dose of 40 centigrams may cause in man such symptoms of intoxication as vertigo, inverted vision and muscular paralysis. Pelletierine should not be administered to children, but Béranger-Féraud states that the tannate may be safely given them, as follows:

Tannate of pelletierine 0.30 grams.

Sweetened water 40.00 grams.

A coffee-spoonful of this solution contains 0.03 gram of the tannate, and this quantity may be given to a child, in a little milk. If no symptoms supervene within one-half hour give another similar dose and so on up to 3 or 4 doses or .12 gm. in all. After the last dose give the purgative as a routine. It is certainly imprudent to trust the administration of such a drug to any one incapable of recognizing the symptoms of intoxication, and as no one but a physician can judge the effects of the alkaloid he himself should remain with the patient until the efficient dose has been absorbed. This is manifestly impractical and we therefore maintain that the alkaloid is not suited for the treatment of children.

An analysis of the root bark made by the French chemist Tanret revealed the presence of four alkaloids: pelletierine, isopelletierine (C₈H₁₅NO), pseudo-pelletierine (C₉H₁₅NO), and methylpeletierine (C₉H₁₇NO).

Botanical Description.—A shrub 6–9° high with branches terminating in thorns; some of the branches abort and form thorns. Leaves simple, oval, oblong, without stipules, with short petioles. Flowers axillary, solitary or in pauciflorous cymes. Calyx, 4–8 sepals, persistent, fleshy, yellow or red. Corolla, 4–8 petals, imbricated. Stamens numerous, free. Style 1. Stigma thick. Fruit with leathery rind, about size of small apple, packed with seeds, each imbedded in a small amount of crisp, juicy pulp.

Onagraceæ.

Evening Primrose Family.

Jussiæa suffruticosa, L. (J. villosa, Lam.; J. erecta, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Malapoko, Tag.

Uses.—The entire plant reduced to a pulp and mixed with milk is used in India to treat dysentery. Ainslie states that the decoction is employed as a vermifuge and purgative.

Botanical Description.—An herb with square stem, leaves alternate, lanceolate, nearly entire, glabrous. Flowers axillary, yellow, solitary. Calyx of 4–5 lobules. Corolla, 4 lanceolate petals inserted between the divisions of the calyx. Stamens 8, of these 4 alternate being shorter. Ovary very long, inferior, with 4 many-ovuled locules. Style the same length as the stamens. Stigma 4-lobuled. Seed vessels very long, with faint longitudinal ridges, crowned by the remains of the calyx, 4 pluriovulate locules.

Habitat.—In the arable fields and along the banks of rivers. Blooms in January and March.

Passifloraceæ.

Passion Flower Family.

Carica Papaya, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Papaya, in many Phil. dialects; Papaya, Papaw, Eng.

Uses.—The decoction of the leaves is used locally in sores and atonic ulcers, followed by a poultice of the boiled and mashed leaves. The natives use the cold infusion of the leaves to wash clothes spotted with blood and the spots disappear rapidly by virtue of the ferment papain which digests the fibrin. The infusion is also very useful as a wash for sores and gangrenous ulcers, modifying their appearance very rapidly.

Before proceeding further it is desirable to give a description of papain, a digestive ferment which exists throughout the whole plant, fruit, trunk, leaves and petioles; it is contained in the milky juice which exudes from all these parts when cut. This juice was studied simultaneously by Wurtz in France and Peckolt in Brazil. The best method of collecting it is to make several superficial, longitudinal incisions in the green fruit without removing it from the tree; immediately an abundance of juice appears in the incisions and coagulates rapidly. The best time to do this is the early morning. The fruit does not suffer by this process but continues developing and ripens perhaps more rapidly, at the same time improving in flavor, becoming sweeter; the seeds, however, atrophy and lose their power of germination. Peckolt gives the following as the composition of the juice:

A substance analogous to caoutchouc 4.525

Awa 2.424

Soft resin 0.110

Brown resin 2.776

Albuminoids 0.006

Papayotin (Papain of Wurtz) 1.059

Extractive matter 5.303

Malic acid 0.443

Peptic material and salts 7.100

Water 74.971

The milky juice is neutral and coagulates rapidly, separating in two parts: a kind of insoluble pulp and a limpid colorless serum. If combined with fibrin, raw meat, white of egg or gluten it gradually softens them and completely dissolves them in 3 or 4 hours in vitro at 40° C. Combined with milk it coagulates it and soon precipitates the casein which is also dissolved a little later. It digests lumbricoids and tape-worms and the false membrane of croup, in a few hours. According to Wurtz and Bouchut papain is prepared as follows:

The fluid juice or the aqueous solution of the milky exudate is precipitated by the addition of ten times the volume of alcohol. The precipitate, after treating again with concentrated alcohol, is dissolved in water and the addition of sub-acetate of lead eliminates the albuminoids and peptones but does not precipitate the papain. The liquid is filtered and the lead salts separated by means of a current of hydrogen sulphide. It is filtered again and alcohol added gradually, which process first precipitates whatever sulphate of lead may have passed through the filter, and then the papain.

Papain is an amorphous substance, perfectly white, soluble in water, insipid, odorless. An aqueous solution, if shaken violently, foams like a solution of soap. Boiling makes it turbid and when concentrated it has a slightly astringent taste. It is precipitated by hydrochloric, nitric, picric and the metaphosphoric acids. Trommer’s test gives it a beautiful blue violet color which, on boiling, changes to a red violet.

It is an extremely active digestive ferment, comparable with pepsin, but superior to the latter because it does not require an acid medium, as its digestive action takes place even in the presence of an alkaline medium and of antiseptic substances such as boric acid, phenol, etc. It is given in doses of 10–40 centigrams in different vehicles such as water, wine, etc. It should be given after meals carefully and properly diluted, in order that its action may not be exerted upon the gastric mucous membrane itself. Its use is contraindicated in gastric ulcer.

A watery solution prepared by macerating the green fruit has been used effectively to remove blemishes from the face, leaving the skin clean and smooth. The natives use little pieces of the green fruit to remove freckles (which they call pecas). The ripe fruit is edible and its taste quite agreeable; in some of the Malay Islands it is given for dysentery, but it must be remembered that the ripe fruit does not contain papain.

The pure exudate is given to children as an anthelmintic in doses of 2–6 grams with a little molasses, but it is not so harmless that it may be used with impunity in this form, Moncorvo and others having reported cases of peritonitis with symptoms suggestive of cholera following its use. It is drastic and digestive in addition to its anthelmintic action, but according to Rabuteau, boiling destroys the first property without affecting the others. Dr. Lemarchand of the island of Mauritius gives the following anthelmintic prescription:

Juice of papaya and molasses āā 1 tablespoon.

Add gradually while shaking the mixture.

Boiling water 4 tablespoons.

Cool and administer in one dose followed immediately by 30 grams of castor oil. For a child, one-half dose.

This treatment frequently causes colic, for the relief of which the author advises an injection of sweetened water. Sir O’Shaughnessy’s prescription is preferable:

20–60 drops of the exudate in a little sweetened water.

This dose cannot cause any untoward symptoms and is efficient in expelling both lumbricoids and tæniæ.

The triturated seeds may be given internally in doses of 1–2 grams with milk or molasses to expel lumbricoids. Analysis has revealed in the seeds the presence of a resinous oil, an oleaginous material of disagreeable odor and taste called by Peckolt caricin, a fatty acid, papayic acid and a resin. In India the seeds are considered emmenagogue. In some countries they wrap meat in papaya leaves for several hours before eating in order to soften it. For the same purpose they sometimes boil the meat in water containing a few leaves or pieces of the green fruit; some even go to the length of saying that it is only necessary to hang a piece of meat in a papaya tree for a time in order to soften it.

The decoction of the green fruit is given internally for indigestion, a treatment common in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga. The milky juice is used to remove corns and Dr. Daruty offers the following prescription for eczema and psoriasis:

Exudate of papaya 1.00 grams.

Borax (powdered) 0.60 grams.

Water 16.00 grams.

Mix.

Paint the affected part with feather or brush, 2–3 times a day. The same solution may be used for softening corns.

Botanical Description.—Trees 15° in height, trunk covered with large leaf scars, wood soft and brittle, the long-petioled, palmately-lobed leaves growing in a crown and giving the tree the general appearance of a palm. Flowers diœcious. Staminate tree: Flowers loosely clustered on long, hanging stems. Calyx, 5–6 teeth. Corolla tubular, 1′ long, limb divided into 5 oval parts. Stamens 10, inserted in the throat. Style short, awl-shaped. Pistillate tree: Flowers much larger, sessile, in axils of leaves. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla large, 5 lanceolate petals curved outward, fleshy. Stigmas 5, fringed. Fruit about size of child’s head or smaller, somewhat pear-shaped, juicy, pulp melon-like, 1 compartment with numerous seeds, each in a mucilaginous aril.

Cucurbitaceæ.

Gourd Family.

Trichosanthes palmata, Roxb. (T. tricuspis, Mig.; T. lucioniana, Bares.)

Nom. Vulg.—(?).

Uses.—Roxburgh states that the fruit is toxic and sometimes used to kill crows. Dymock states that the leaf is smoked in Bombay as a remedy for asthma.

The extremely bitter taste of the fruit and rind induced Sir W. O’Shaughnessy to examine it for tonic and purgative properties; doses as high as 0.20 gram 3 times a day failed to exert a purgative effect. The root is used in veterinary medicine particularly for pneumonia. Mixed with equal parts of colocynth it is applied to carbuncles. In combination with equal parts of Terminalia chebula and ginger it is made into a sweetened infusion for internal use in gonorrhœa.

Botanical Description.—A climber with broad, heart-shaped, serrate, 7-lobulate leaves. Flowers monœcious; staminate white and racemose; pistillate solitary, growing at the base of the staminate racemes. Staminate receptacle tubular, calyx inserted on the border of the receptacle, 5 sepals. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 5, of which 4 are in pairs. Pistillate: the receptacle dilates in its lower part in form of a globose vase and encloses the unilocular pluriovulate ovary. Fruit ovoid or pyriform, scarlet when fresh, orange-yellow when dry. Seeds of irregular form, somewhat triangular. Kernel oily.

Habitat.—Luzon.

T. anguina, L. (T. amara, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Salagsalag, Pakupis, Salimpokot, Kukubitan, Halahala, Buyokbuyok, Tag.; Tabobog, Kukubitan, Pukopukot, Kuragda, Vis., Pam.

T. cucumerina, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Probably the same as T. anguina.

Uses.—The fruit of T. anguina is purgative, emetic and anthelmintic. The natives use an infusion of the filamentous, reticulate portion surrounding the seeds, in doses of 0.50–0.60 gm., according to P. Blanco.

The second species, T. cucumerina, has a wider use. In India it is regarded as a febrifuge and laxative and is commonly given with some aromatic. Ainslie notes that the leaves, as well as the fruit, are bitter and purgative and that the Tamuls use them for their laxative and stomachic effect. Drury states that on the Malabar coast the seeds have a considerable reputation as a remedy for functional disorders of the stomach. Although the green fruit is very bitter the natives of that region use it as a condiment. The tender stems and the dry capsules, both bitter and purgative, are given in infusion and in a sweetened solution, as an aid to digestion. The seeds are febrifuge and anthelmintic. The juice of the leaves is emetic and that of the roots purgative. The decoction of the stem is expectorant.

In Bombay the plant is considered febrifuge, and is given in decoction with ginger, Swertia chirata, and sugar. The Mohammedan authors say that the T. cucumerina is effective in expelling lumbricoids and one of them mentions the following as a cure for stubborn fevers:

Seeds of T. cucumerina No. 180.

Seeds of coriander or cumin No. 180.

Boiling water 200 grams.

Let stand over night, filter, add a little sugar, administer in 2 doses morning and evening.

In Concan they use the juice of the leaves as a liniment in remittent fevers, rubbing the hepatic region and in fact the entire body.

Botanical Description.—T. anguina, L., is a vine with 5-angled stem, bearing tendrils and spattered with white dots. Leaves heart-shaped, with 5 acute lobules, spiny-toothed. Petioles with a bifid swelling at their bases. Flowers white, monœcious. Staminate: calyx 5-toothed with dotted borders; corolla, 5 fringed petals; stamens 3; anthers 3, entirely united and forming a cylinder. Pistillate: 3 glandules in the corolla tube; style long; stigmas 3. Fruit ribbed, long, the compartments formed by reticular partitions; contains many irregular seeds, one border sharp, the other obtuse, covered by a very thin aril.

The T. cucumerina, L., is less common, bears a spindle-shaped or obovate fruit, is hairy and lacks ribs. Its seeds are ovoid, very smooth, encircled by a narrow wing. The reticulum within the fruit is similar to that of the foregoing species.

Habitat.—Common in all parts of the islands. Blooms in October.

Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser.

Nom. Vulg.—Common Gourd, Bottle Gourd, Calabash, Eng.

Var. Lagenaria Gourda, Ser. (Cucurbita lagenaria oblonga, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Calabaza de peregrino, Sp.; Pilgrim’s Gourd, Eng.

Var. L. courgourda, Ser.

Nom. Vulg.—Tabayag, Tag.

Var. L. clavata, Ser. (C. lagenaria villosa, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—Calabaza blanca, Sp.; Opo, Tag.; White Gourd, Eng.

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.

Botanical Description.—A vine with square, glabrous stem. Leaves alternate, cordate, 3–5-lobulate, dentate, rough, 5–7-nerved. Petioles short. Flowers monœcious. Staminate in axillary panicles; calyx bell-shaped; corolla yellow, 5 oval petals, borders entire; stamens 3; filaments short; two thick ones divide high up in 2 parts, thus giving the appearance of 5 stamens in all. Pistillate axillary, calyx adherent, 5 pointed sepals; corolla, 5 nearly triangular petals, finely dentate; style thick, short, the base encircled by 3 glandules; stigma cordate. Ovary, 3 pseudo-locules formed by the central union of the placentas; pluriovulate. Fruit oblong, terminating at the apex in a deciduous lid or cover, marked with 8 or 10 black longitudinal lines; the interior reticulate, 3 compartments with many seeds, oval, black, flat with thin borders. The natives do not distinguish between this specimen and the Trichosanthes, but it is to be noted that the corolla of the former is not ravelled or fringed.

Habitat.—Common in Luzon and Panay. Blooms in January.

Momordica balsamina, L.

Nom. Vulg.—Ampalaya, Ampalea, Tag.; Amargoso, Sp.-Fil.; Paria, Iloc.; Apalia, Pam.; Balsamina, Sp.; Balsam Apple, Eng.

M. charanta, L. (M. muricata, Willd.; M. cylindrica, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.—The same as of M. balsamina.

Uses.—The fruit of both varieties is edible, though a bitter principle gives it such an intensely bitter taste that it is intolerable to the unaccustomed palate. It is eaten raw as a salad, or cooked with meat or fish. The juice of the leaves is prescribed internally as a purgative and anthelmintic. In Concan it is given alone or combined with aromatics, in bilious disorders as an emetic and purgative; externally they use it as an ointment for the itch and other skin diseases; in India it is mixed with cinnamon, pepper, rice and oil of Hydnocarpus inebrians, Vahl.

The fruit and leaves are used internally for worms and externally for leprosy. Some Hindoo writers state that the fruit is tonic and stomachic, and that it is useful in rheumatism, gout, diseases of the liver and spleen.

Botanical Description.—The first variety, M. balsamina, more common than the second, is a vine with angular stem and simple tendrils. Leaves, many serrate lobules with white dots on the ends. Flowers yellow, monœcious. Staminate solitary, peduncles very long, involucre cordate; calyx 5-lobed; corolla 5 petals; filaments simple, one separate, 2 approximated; anthers joined at their bases. Pistillate solitary; ovary, 3 locules and numerous ovules; stigma, 3 bifid divisions; fruit globose, narrowing at the ends, covered with tubercles; seeds numerous, lacking albumen, having red aril.

The second variety, M. cylindrica, has a downy stem, 5-angled with simple tendrils. The leaves are 5-lobuled, cordate, serrate, with short hairs on under surface. Melon hollow, glabrous, very long, cylindrical, tapering at the ends, covered with tubercles, some elevated in longitudinal lines, others depressed; seeds in 3 rows, enveloped in pulpy arils, white, long quadrangular, truncate above, encircled by 2 rows of obtuse toothlets.

Habitat.—Both grow in all parts and are well known.

Citrullus Colocynthis, Schard. (Cucumis Colocynthis, L.)

Nom. Vulg.—Coloquíntida, Sp.; Colocynth, Bitter Apple, Eng.

Uses.—The part employed is the fruit pulp, official in all the pharmacopœias as a very energetic hydragogue cathartic. It is seldom given alone, but in combination with other drugs to modify its energy and its action.

In large doses it causes vomiting, bloody diarrhœa and a series of nervous phenomena that may end in death. Six to ten grams constitute a toxic dose. It operates with most force upon the large intestines and sympathetically upon the uterus.

Dose.—Extract, 0.10–0.30 gram; powder, 0.30–1.00 gram.

The pulp contains a yellow, intensely bitter substance, quite soluble in water and in alcohol, discovered by Hubschmann and named by him coloquintina. The seeds contain 17% of an insipid oil.

Botanical Description.—An herb with long, prostrate stems covered with stiff hairs. Leaves alternate, triangular, deeply cleft in 3 lobules that subdivide. Petioles long. The color of the leaves is pale green above, whitish or gray and covered with white hairs underneath. Flowers yellow, monœcious, solitary, axillary, with long peduncles. Staminate: receptacle cup-formed, 5 sepals and 5 free, yellow petals; 5 stamens in pairs, one free. Pistillate: the receptacle globose, covering the lower part of the ovary; 3 staminodes take the place of the stamens. Ovary unilocular, uniovulate, with a short style bearing 3 lobules at its apex. Fruit globose, 6–8 centimeters in diameter, smooth, greenish, later yellow with white spots; it is full of a whitish pulp that becomes dry and pithy and that contains the obovate seeds, smooth, flattened, brown, lacking albumen.