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 pharmacopoeia contains the following official preparations:
_Compound Spirit_.--
Small pieces of moringa root }
Orange peel } aa 600 grams.
Nutmeg 20 grams.
Spirit of wine 4 1/2 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 } aa 30 grams.
Boiling water 1/2 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_, _Bangati_, Tag.; _Bangati 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 Pharmacopoeia
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_, _Sulbang_, 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 dyspnoea the following infusion of bark is very
useful:
Fresh bark, }
Freshly bruised leaves, } aa 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.--_Kolokanting_, _Pakingang_, Tag.; _Kolokating_, 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, 1-1 1/2' 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.
_1. Pterocarpus santalinus_, L. [5]
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 pharmacopoeias 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 diarrhoea, leucorrhoea, blenorrhoea
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.; _Butong_, 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-Kambing_, _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 Pharmacopoeia 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 Pharmacopoeia 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 diarrhoea 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-Kambing_,
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_ (C_14_H_15_O_5_). 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
diarrhoea, 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 4 1/2 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_ (C_22_H_20_O_7_),
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.; _Lombayong_, _Ibabaw_, _Baloyong_,
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.