It includes a non-nitrogenous principle, plumbagin, existing in the
form of orange-yellow needles, bitter, acrid, volatile, neutral,
slightly soluble in cold water, more soluble in ether, alcohol and
hot water. The aqueous solution becomes cherry-red on the addition of
an alkali, which color is changed to yellow by acids. Basic acetate
of lead causes the same color change.
Botanical Description.--Plant with stem declined, angular. Leaves
lanceolate, entire, rather downy. Petioles at their base embrace
the stem. Flowers white, in axillary spikes. Individual involucres,
3 oval leaflets, the lower larger. Calyx long, cleft almost to
the base in 5 lineal parts thickly set with small glands, exuding
a sticky gum. Corolla salver-shaped, the tube long, square, throat
bare, limb divided into 5 obovate parts, ending in stylets. Stamens
5, inserted near the base of the corolla, almost as long as the
tube. Style a little shorter than the stamens. Stigma, 5 parts. One
long seed enclosed within the calyx, pentangular, covered with a
membranaceous skin.
Habitat.--In Tanauan (Batangas).
SAPOTACEÆ.
Sapodilla Family.
_Achras Sapota_, L.
Nom. Vulg.--_Chico_, Sp.-Fil.; _Tsiku_, Tag.
Uses.--The _chico_ is one of the popular fruits of the Philippines,
much appreciated by Europeans as well as the natives. When not entirely
ripe it yields a resinous juice that sticks to the lips and affords a
disagreeable taste; but when once thoroughly ripe it has a slightly
vinous, sweetish taste and is easily digested. Therapeutically its
seeds are used as a diuretic, but large doses should be avoided as
they contain a small proportion of hydrocyanic acid. The proper dose
is 5-6 mashed seeds in sweetened water. They contain, in addition to
the above, a fatty substance of the consistency of butter.
The trunk bark is tonic and febrifuge; Mr. Bernon [9] has isolated from
it a crystalline alkaloid, _sapotine_, soluble in ether, chloroform
or alcohol, but not in water; a large per cent. of _sapotanic acid_
and two resins.
The trunk exudes, when incised, a milky resin, closely resembling
guttapercha and possibly susceptible of the same uses.
Botanical Description.--Trees, about 11° high, with leaves lanceolate,
keeled, entire, glabrous. Flowers pure white, solitary or by twos,
terminal, very long peduncles. Calyx, 6 sepals, 3 within the others,
inferior persistent. Corolla jug-shaped, the border divided into 12
parts, the 6 smaller ones alternating and within the others. Stamens
6, inserted near the border of the inner petals and opposite the outer
circle. Filaments very short. Style long. Stigma obtuse, fruit globose,
resembling a small pear, russet brown, crowned with the hardened
style, more than 10 compartments, each containing a seed. Seed oval,
flattened, joined to a central fleshy axis.
Habitat.--Common all over the Archipelago. Blooms in April.
_Mimusops Elengi_, L.
Nom. Vulg.--_Kabiki_, Tag.
Uses.--Its flowers are fragrant and generally well known. The trunk
bark is astringent, and in decoction is given by mouth for fevers
and diarrhoea. Locally is used as an injection for blenorrhoea,
as a gargle for sore throat or relaxed uvula, and a mouth wash to
harden the gums. Horsfield states that the Javanese use it as a tonic
and antiperiodic. In India an aqueous distillate is employed as a
perfume and therapeutically as a stimulant. In Concan they chew the
green fruit for toothache and to harden relaxed gums. The decoction
of the green fruit serves the same purpose and besides is used to
wash wounds and ulcers.
Botanical Description.--A large ornamental tree with leaves alternate,
oblong, coriaceous, green. Flowers small, straw-colored, star-shaped,
very fragrant. Calyx, 8 sepals. Corolla gamopetalous, 16 oblong,
lanceolate divisions. Stamens 8, free, short, alternating with 8
petaloid, conical, pubescent staminodia. Ovary free, many ovules. Fruit
fleshy, oval, smooth, yellow when ripe, with one or several locules
according to the number of matured seeds. Seeds solitary, oblong,
flattened.
Habitat.--Cultivated in the gardens.
OLEACEÆ.
Olive Family.
_Jasminum Sambac_, Aiton. (_Nyctanthes Sambac_, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.--_Sampaga_, Tag.; _Sampaguitas_, Sp.-Fil.; _Arabian
Jasmin_, Eng.
Uses.--The flower is the most popular and beloved of any in the
Philippines (and is commonly referred to as the national flower). In
decoction it is used as an eye-wash in catarrhal conjunctivitis. In
India the flowers and the leaves have a merited reputation as
a lactifuge; 2 handfuls of flowers bruised and applied without
moistening, once or twice a day, sometimes checks the secretion of
the milk within 24 hours, but generally 2 or 3 days are required for
a complete effect.
Botanical Description.--Stems scarcely climbing, flattened,
pubescent. Leaves opposite, cordate base, lanceolate-ovate,
entire, glabrous. Flowers in small, close clusters, white,
fragrant. Calyx-teeth 8-9, long and awl-shaped. Corolla, long tube,
7-8 rounded lobes. Stamens 2. Style 1. Stigma cleft in 2 laminæ.
APOCYNACEÆ.
Dogbane Family.
_Allamanda cathartica_, L.
Nom. Vulg.--Not known.
Uses.--As this plant has no common name in the Philippines it is most
probable that the natives do not use it. The Portuguese introduced
it into India from Brazil. A decoction of the leaves is purgative
and is used in lead colic. The milky juice of the plant is emetic and
cathartic in large doses, but simply laxative when given in doses of
8 or 10 drops. On account of its possible violent cathartic action
great prudence should be exercised in prescribing it.
Botanical Description.--A twining shrub with leaves in fours, bright
green, oblong, covered with rough hairs. Flowers in compound spikes,
yellow. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla 5-lobed, funnel-form. Stamens 5,
inserted in throat of corolla, which above them is closed by a crown of
hairs. Ovary 1-celled with 2 many-ovuled placentæ. Style cylindrical,
terminating in a bilobulate cone. Capsule globular, about the size
of a pea, black, coriaceous, thorny, bivalvate. Seeds numerous,
each encircled by a broad membranous wing.
Habitat.--In Calauang and other parts of Luzon and Panay.
_Thevetia nerifolia_, Suss. (_Cerbera Thevetia_, L. and Blanco)
Nom. Vulg.--_Campanelo_, Sp.-Fil.; _Exile or Yellow Oleander_, Eng.
Uses.--This shrub is very common in gardens, well known by its pretty
yellow, bell-shaped flowers. The trunk bark possesses antiperiodic
properties first described by Descourtilz and confirmed later by
Dr. G. Bidie and Dr. J. Short. Both the latter used the tincture
in 10-15-drop doses 3 times a day. This tincture was prepared by
macerating for one week in 150 grams of alcohol 30 grams of fresh bark
finely divided. This preparation operates as an emetic and purgative
in doses of 30-60 drops. It is evident that the plant possesses very
active, even poisonous properties and should be employed with great
caution. The decoction of the bark is given as an emetic and cathartic,
but very imprudently because there is no means of determining the
quantity of active principle, shown by chemical analysis to be a
dangerous product.
The fruit is very bitter and acrid. The seeds yield by expression
35 to 41% oil (De Vry) and 57% when treated with benzol. It has
an agreeable odor resembling that of sweet almonds, its density
is 0.9148 at 25° and it is perfectly clear and transparent at that
temperature. At 15° it thickens and at 13° solidifies. According to
Oudemans it consists of 63% triolein and 37% tripalmin and tristearin;
it is not poisonous. After expression De Vry obtained from the caked
residue 4% of a crystalline glucoside called by him _thevetin_. Blas,
of the Academy of Medicine of Belgium, studied it later and described
it as a white powder of small colorless scales, odorless, very bitter,
soluble at 14° in 122 parts of water, in alcohol, in crystallizable
acetic acid, insoluble in ether; formula C_54_H_34_O_24_. Concentrated
sulphuric acid dissolves it, producing a dark red color that changes to
cherry red and then after several hours to violet. The color disappears
if water be added. Boiled in acid solution the glucoside changes to
a new substance, _theveresin_ (C_48_H_70_O_17_), white, amorphous,
slightly soluble in boiling water and in alcohol, insoluble in benzine
or chloroform, soluble in alkalies, very bitter. Both substances are
energetic narcotic poisons; but the plant contains another even more
powerful poison isolated by Warden, of Calcutta; it does not form
crystals, it is very bitter, freely soluble in water, and is turned
yellow by sulphuric and nitric acids.
Thevetin and theveresin exercise a marked toxic effect on the
heart. The former induces emetic and cathartic phenomena, trembling and
progressive weakness. The latter does not cause vomiting or diarrhoea,
but anæsthesia and rigidity of the limbs. Both poisons arrest the
heart in systole. Injected hypodermically they are irritant, are
eliminated by the liver, but are not found in the urine.
Botanical Description.--A shrub, about 10° high, with leaves
nearly sessile, somewhat bunched at the ends of the branches and
overlapping, lanceolate, entire, glabrous. Flowers about 2' long. Calyx
5-toothed. Corolla straw-colored, cylindrical, very narrow below,
but the limb very large, spreading into 5 lobes with greenish,
superimposed borders. Stamens 5, inserted in the throat, anthers
lanceolate. Ovaries 2, united at base, free above, unilocular. Style
simple, enlarging at the base in a bilobed stigma. Fruit a fleshy
drupe resembling somewhat a small apple, the pit very hard, semilunar,
flattened, with 4 compartments and as many solitary seeds.
Habitat.--Common in all gardens and on the seashore.
_Cerbera Odallam_, Gaertn. (_C. manghas_, Bl. & Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.--_Toktok-kaló_, Tag.
Uses.--The milky juice of the plant is emetic and purgative. The
chemist De Vry has isolated from it a poisonous alkaloid analogous to
"thevetin," which has just been considered. The seeds are likewise
emetic and toxic. The Javanese call the fruit "bimaro" and affirm
that it possesses the same properties as "datura." The bruised leaves
are used locally for hepatic eruptions; the bark is used for the same
purpose and is purgative.
The use of the plant is dangerous and is condemned by the Pharmacopoeia
of India.
Botanical Description.--A small shrub with forked branches. Leaves
(overlapping) at ends of branches, lanceolate, entire,
glabrous. Flowers in umbellate spikes. Calyx, 5 caducous
lobules. Corolla white, twisted, cylindrical, with salver-shaped limb
divided in 5 rhomboid lobes, throat stellate and woolly. Stamens
5. Filaments joined to the corolla, their ends thickened. Anthers
arrow-shaped. Ovary, 2 uniovulate locules. Style, same length as
stamens. Stigma thick, conical, lobulate. Two drupes joined at the
base (one usually aborted), brown, large, oval, fleshy, with woody
fibrous nut of a single flattened seed.
Habitat.--Luzon. Blooms in July.
_Plumeria acutifolia_, Poir. (_P. alba_, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.--_Calachuche_, Sp.-Fil.; _Kalatsutsi_, _Kalasusi_, Tag.
Uses.--This tree, beloved for its fragrant flowers, has a wide
therapeutic use in India and the Philippines. The bark is a bitter
hydragogue cathartic and is given in decoction (5-10 grams to
200 water) principally for dropsy; however the milky juice of the
trunk is preferable for this purpose, given in emulsion in doses of
0.50-0.80 grams. The bark and the tips of the branches are given as
an emmenagogue.
The bark of the root and of the trunk is an excellent remedy for
blenorrhagia. The fresh bark is thoroughly comminuted and mixed
with sweetened water in the proportion of 60 grams to 4 liters;
this mixture is put in the sun for 4 days, and shaken from time to
time. It is then strained and given in doses of 4-5 glassfuls a day,
at the same time with refreshing and emollient drinks, and prolonged
tepid baths. At first this preparation exerts a purgative action, but
later acts upon the urinary organs, rapidly lessening the suppurative
process in urethritis. The bark may also be associated with wine or
beer, in the proportion of 30 grains to the liter, the dose being
2-4 small cupfuls a day and Dr. Grosourdy employs the extract of the
bark in doses aggregating 0.20-0.25 gram a day, gradually increased
till at the end of a week 6 grams are taken daily (Dr. J. Amadeo).
The bruised leaves are applied locally to contusions to reduce the
swelling. The juice is used externally as a rubefacient in rheumatic
affections of the joints. In Concan they use a decoction of the root
for diarrhoea. The flower buds are chewed with _buyo_, for intermittent
fever and the juice is applied locally for itch.
Peckolt and Geuther isolated from the bark the glucoside, _agoniadin_
(C_10_H_14_O_6_), which crystallizes in silky crystals fusible at
155°, slightly soluble in water, alcohol, bisulphuret of carbon,
ether and benzine; soluble in nitric or sulphuric acids. In solution
it is a golden yellow soon changing to green. Boiled in a dilute acid
it splits into glucose and an undetermined substance. Oudeman obtained
_plumieric_ acid (C_10_H_10_O_5_) from the milky juice deprived of its
resin; the acid exists as microscopic, needle-like crystals, soluble
in boiling water, alcohol and ether. It melts and decomposes at 130°.
Botanical Description.--A tree, 12-18° high, commonly cultivated
for ornament, well known in the islands, almost constantly bearing
fragrant flowers, but rarely bearing fruit. Branches forked and
peculiarly stumpy at the ends. Leaves alternate, broad lanceolate,
entire, glabrous, the apices curved downward. Petioles short. Flowers
creamy white, light yellow in the throat. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla
twisted, funnel-form, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, hidden in depths of the
tube. Anthers dart- or arrow-formed. Style very short, thickened
above. Stigma 2-parted. Two horizontal, cylindrical and long follicles
joined at their bases, with numerous seeds in hollow receptacles,
each seed encircled by a wing.
_Alstonia scholaris_, Br. (_Echites scholaris_, L. and Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.--_Dita_, Tag.; _Dallopawen_, Iloc.; _Dita_ or _Alstonia
Tree_, Eng.
Uses.--The trunk bark is a febrifuge of great importance; it is
official in the Pharmacopoeia of India and is widely used in the
Philippines. Personally I have had occasion to use it in several
cases of malarial fever in the town of San Mateo near Manila. It is
astringent, anthelmintic and antiperiodic, highly useful in chronic
diarrhoea and dysentery, not only for its astringent effects but for
its tonic and restorative action. As a tonic it gives as good results
as quinine. The dry powdered bark is given internally in wafers of
20-30 centigrams. The infusion is prepared from 15 grams of the dry
comminuted bark to 300 of water. The dose is 30-60 grams 2 or 3 times
a day.
Another convenient preparation is the tincture, 75 grams of the
powdered bark macerated 7 days in 500 grams of alcohol, shaking from
time to time. It is then filtered and enough alcohol added to make
up the 500 cc. The dose is 4-8 grams a day.
I have often used the following wine as a tonic for convalescents
and patients suffering from general debility: Finely powdered bark,
25 grams, muscatel or dry sherry one bottle; macerate a week, shaking
every day, and filter; dose 1/2 wineglass with equal parts water a
few minutes before each meal; children or very weak patients should
take it after eating; it should always be diluted.
G. Grupe, a Manila pharmacist, treating the bark in 1883 by the
same process as that used in the preparation of quinine, obtained a
bitter substance which he named _Ditaine_. According to Grupe Dr. Pina
used this substance with great success in the treatment of malarial
fevers, but neither Grupe's report nor Pina's experiment are of any
scientific value, inasmuch as they have neglected to mention the doses
in which the so-called alkaloid was employed. Later analyses by Hesse
and Jobst revealed several principles: two alkaloids _ditamine_
(C_16_H_19_NO_2_), soluble in ether; _Ditaine_ or _Echitamine_
(C_22_H_28_NO_4_ + H_2_O) insoluble in ether, soluble in water;
acetic acid and two amorphous substances dextrogyrous in ethereal
solution, one of them a resin, _Echicauchina_ (C_25_H_40_O_2_),
the other neutral, _Echiretin_ (C_35_H_56_O_2_); two crystallizable
principles, dextrogyrous: _Echicerin_ (C_30_H_48_O_2_), _Echitein_
(C_42_H_70_O_2_) and _Echitin_ (C_32_H_52_O_2_).
_Ditaine_ is employed under the same circumstances and in the same
dose as quinine. (The Hindoo writer, K. L. Dey, states that the plant
yields an inferior quality of gutta-percha.)
Botanical Description.--A tree, 50 or more feet high, the trunk
covered with small eminences resembling the scars of thorns. Branches
radiating. Leaves radiating, 5, 6 or more, somewhat elliptical in form,
pointed at the apex. Petioles very short, with a pointed glandule on
the inner surface of the base. Flowers white, terminal, in umbellate
racemes. Calyx very short, 5-toothed. Corolla twisted, tubular,
the limb 5-lobuled; throat open, encircled with down. Stamens 5,
hidden within the throat and inserted on the tube. Filaments almost
wanting. Anthers arrow-shaped. Style as long as the stamens, somewhat
flattened, a scarcely visible line throughout its length. Stigma
bifid, placed above a cylindrical zone, two follicles, 1° long and 1''
thick, twisted like a string, containing the seeds in a row. Seeds
cylindrical with a hairy awn at both ends.
Habitat.--In the forests of Luzon, especially in Batangas. Blooms
in April.
_Nerium odorum_, Aiton. (_N. oleander_, L. and Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.--_Adelfa_, Sp.; _Baladri_, Tag.; _Sweet-scented Oleander_,
Eng.
Uses.--In the Philippines and in Spain this plant is well known to
be poisonous. The bark and the leaves of both the red-flowered and
white-flowered varieties are boiled in cocoanut oil and the product
is used for inunction in itch and other skin diseases. The bruised
root is a useful application for chancroids.
We have stated that the plant is poisonous, and indeed it is actively
so in the tropics. It is now recognized as an energetic cardiac poison,
comparable with strophanthus, destined to play an important part in
therapeutics. Dr. Pouloux has made a study of the hydro-alcoholic
extract of oleander and reports that it exerts a marked effect on the
heart of frogs and rabbits, arresting them in systole. Where there
is asystolia, such as we encounter in Bright's disease, without
compensation, it stimulates the heart and increases the urine in
the same manner as digitalis. No contraindications to its use are
as yet known. It occasions no disagreeable symptoms and may be used
many days consecutively provided that the daily dose does not exceed
10-15 centigrams.
The poisonous properties of the plant reside in two alkaloids
isolated by Lukowsky from the leaves: _oleandrine_, extremely toxic
and _pseudo-curarine_, as its name indicates, resembling curare in
its action. Oleandrin is yellow, semicrystalline, soluble in water,
alcohol, ether, chloroform and olive oil; fusible at 70-75° and
changing to a greenish oil. With HCl it forms a crystalline salt. It
is a violent irritant of the mucous membranes and given internally it
causes emesis, diarrhoea, tetanic convulsions and death. It arrests
the cardiac movements in doses of 25 milligrams.
Loiseleur-Deslongchamps experimented with the drug on his own person,
using a solution of 30 grams of the extract in 120 grams of wine. He
began by taking three drops of this preparation four times a day,
adding a drop to each dose every day, so that at the end of 12 days he
was taking 48 drops between 6 a. m. and 9 p. m. He reached a maximum
of 64 drops a day but was forced to abandon his experiment at that
point on account of the unpleasant symptoms induced--loss of appetite,
great weakness and muscular pains. His deduction was that the plant
contained a "destructive and irritant principle." The experiment is
of interest as demonstrating the maximum dose of the drug.
The active principles of the plant reside principally in the leaves
and bark, but that they are abundantly present in other parts is
proved by the death of several soldiers in Corsica from having eaten
meat roasted on a spit of oleander wood.
Botanical Description.--A small tree, about 6° high. Leaves coriaceous,
lanceolate, entire, glabrous. Flowers in terminal cymes, rose-color
or white, single or double. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla 15 petals, the
inner ones larger, disposed in 3 groups of 5. Stamens 10, fixed on
receptacle; filaments short. Style shorter than stamens. Two follicles,
sharp-pointed, channeled, containing many imbricated seeds each with
an awn.
ASCLEPIADACEÆ.
Milkweed Family.
_Calotrops gigantea_, R. Br. (_Asclepias gigantea_, Willd. and Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.--_Kapal-kapal_, Tag.; _Swallow-Wort_, Eng.; _Mudar_,
Indo-Eng.
Uses.--This plant is official in the Pharmacopoeia of India as
an alterative, tonic, diaphoretic and emetic. J. J. Durant, having
observed that the natives used it for dysentery, experimented with it
quite successfully in that disease. For adults he gradually raised
the dose from 1.10 to 4 grams, preferring smaller doses, however,
for mild cases. To children he prescribed 5-10 centigrams for each
year of age, 3 or 4 times a day. He remarked that the effects produced
were identical with those of ipecac administered in Brazilian fashion.
The part of the plant used is the dry root powdered. The usual dose
is 15-50 centigrams 3 times a day, gradually increased; as an emetic
2-4 grams.
The milky juice that escapes from the stem on the slightest abrasion
is a drastic purgative, given commonly in dropsy, lumbricoids,
etc. Pledgets of cotton impregnated with the juice and packed in
the cavities of carious teeth, relieve toothache. It is applied
locally for various skin diseases, including syphilitic ulcers,
and as a depilatory.
Some races of India, such as the Rajputs of the districts of Allahab
and of Khangor, use this milk-juice to poison their female infants whom
they are accustomed to regard as a vexatious burden. Therapeutically
they use it with honey, locally for sore throat.
The dry and powdered juice has been used in small doses as an
alterative in the treatment of tuberculous leprosy, but it has not
given results any better than many other drugs. In syphilis and
mercurial cachexia its results are less doubtful.
In 1881 Dr. Riddell obtained a sort of gutta-percha from the juice,
previously observed by Professor Redwood.
Mooden Sheriff states that the most active parts of the plant are the
root bark and the dried juice. He adds that the action of the juice is
irregular and even dangerous, and that the bark is active in direct
proportion to its age. He recommends that the inert tuberous layer
of the bark be removed; prepared thus and powdered it is emetic in
doses of 2.50-3 grams.
Duncan claims to have isolated from the bark an active principle
which he called _mudarin_ from "mudar," the Indian name of the
plant. Following the same process Flückiger was unable to obtain
the substance, but did isolate 1 1/2% of an acrid resin, soluble in
ether and in alcohol; a mucilage and a bitter principle decolorized by
chloroform and ether. It is probable that this is the active principle
of the "Calotropis gigantea."
Warden and Waddell in 1881 isolated a substance crystallizable in
nodular masses, with the formula C_17_H_28_O, analogous to the _albana_
of gutta-percha.
Botanical Description.--A small tree, 7-8° high, with straight stem,
branched and woody. Leaves sessile, opposite, cleft at the base,
oval, fleshy and woolly. Flowers lateral in simple umbels of 3 or
more flowerets. Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla monopetalous, 5 acute lobes,
white, of rare and beautiful form. Nectaries 5, united throughout
their length with the receptacle, their bases curved like the sides
of the fleur de lis.