Chapter 6

Botanical Description.--A small tree, trunk straight, the wood white and very light in weight. Leaves 4-5' long, alternate, acute, oval, entire, glabrous, coriaceous, veined. Petioles very short, no stipules. Flowers in terminal umbels, each composed of 4-6 flowerets with moderately long pedicels. Common peduncle, very slender, very long, drooping. Calyx of same color as corolla, inferior, very small, 4-lobuled. Corolla purplish, very long, 4 straight, linear petals. Stamens 8, inserted on the receptacle. Filaments of equal length with the petals, with 1-2 appendices at the base. Anthers spiral. Ovary 5-lobuled, borne on small stalk. One style of equal length with the stamens, situated above the center of the 5 lobules of the ovary which develop into 5 future pods. Stigma simple. Fruit 5 woody pods, short, united centrally above a small base, semi-lunar in form, medianly expanded, venate, containing a small wrinkled, kidney-shaped seed attached by a seed-stalk to the superior suture.

Habitat.--Very common and well known everywhere in the Philippines. Blooms in February.

BURSERACEÆ.

Myrrh Family.

_Garuga pinnata_, Roxb. (_G. Madagascarensis_, DC.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Bugo_, Tag.

Uses.--The fruit is slightly acid and edible. The trunk exudes an abundant gum, of the odor of turpentine, translucent, greenish-yellow, forming small masses slightly soluble in alcohol, soluble in water, with which a mucilage is formed. The juice of the leaves is used for asthma. The sap is used in Bombay to remove opacities of the cornea. There is another species in the Philippines, _G. floribunda_, Decsne (_Icica Abilo_, Blanco), _abilo_, Tag., the root of which furnishes a decoction used for phthisis. This species also produces a gum-resin similar to that of the _bugo_.

Botanical Description.--A tree, with leaves alternate, odd-pinnate, without stipules, bunched on the ends of the branches, with opposite, serrate leaflets. Flowers yellowish-white in panicles, compound, polygamous. Calyx bell-shaped, 5-toothed. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 10, free, in 2 series. Ovary inferior, 5-lobuled. Fruit, a globose, greenish-yellow drupe with numerous bony seeds.

Habitat.--Everywhere in Luzon, Panay and Balabac.

_Canarium commune_, L. (_C. album_ and _C. Luzonicum_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Pili_, Tag.; _Java Almond Tree_, _East Indian Elemi_, Eng.

Uses.--The ripe pili nut is edible and sold in confectioneries. It yields a fixed oil, an excellent sample of which was sent by the Manila pharmacist D. A. del Rosario to the Paris Exposition of 1889. "It is an oil very similar to oil of almond and owing to its physical properties may be used as a substitute for the latter for all the requirements of pharmacy. The only inconvenience connected with its use is the slight one that it solidifies at 3° C. It could furthermore be very advantageously used in the manufacture of fine grades of soap." (D. A. del Rosario.)

The incised trunk exudes a gum-resin called _brea blanca_ (white pitch) in the Philippines and _elemi_ in Europe. Until recently it was not known in Europe what tree yielded the gum elemi, some authors stating that according to Blanco it was the resin of the _Icica abilo_, Blanco (_Garuga floribunda_, Decsne); it is not true, however, that Padre Blanco ever attributed such origin to that product or named his Icica the "pitch-tree." On the contrary in speaking of the Canarium, Blanco states that it yields a resin called "pili-pitch." I do not know the reason for this confusion of terms, but presume it to be due to imperfect knowledge of Spanish on the part of those who thus quote Blanco.

Pili-pitch, or elemi, as they call it in Manila, is a substance existing in soft masses, slightly yellowish or gray, resembling old honey in appearance. Its odor is strong and agreeable, somewhat like that of lemon and turpentine. Its taste is acrid and bitter.

The French pharmacist Meaujean demonstrated in 1820 that elemi contains two resins, one soluble in the cold, and the other in hot spirits of wine. Other chemists, among them Baup, Flückiger and Hanbury, have found elemi to be composed of a resinous substance and a colorless essential oil; the proportion of the latter Flückiger gives as 10% and further states that it is dextrogyrous. Sainte-Claire Deville found the essential oil levogyrous, a fact that emphasizes the probability of there being different products in the market bearing the name of elemi.

Baup obtained several principles from it: (1) A resin, _brein_, fusible at 187°, soluble in cold alcohol, crystallizable in oblique rhombic prisms; (2) another crystalline substance, _bryoidin_, soluble in 360 parts water at 10°, and melting at 13°; (3) a small amount of _breidin_, a body soluble in 260 parts water and melting at 100°+; (4) another resin soluble in boiling alcohol, called _amyrin_.

White pitch is used in the Philippines to make plasters which they apply to the back and breast of patients suffering from bronchial or pulmonary complaints; it is also applied to indolent ulcers. We believe that elemi possesses the same properties as copaiba, and that its indications for internal use are the same.

Botanical Description.--A tree 30-40 meters high, with leaves alternate, odd-pinnate; leaflets opposite, coriaceous. Flowers yellowish-white in axillary, compound panicles, hermaphrodite. Calyx 3-toothed. Corolla, 3 oblong, concave petals. Stamens 6, inserted on the base of the disc. Ovary free, of 3 lobules each containing 2 ovules. Style simple. Stigma, 3 lobules. Drupe oblong, size of large prune, fleshy, containing a hard, 3-sided pit.

Habitat.--Very common in all Philippine woods especially in Camarines.

MELIACEÆ.

Melia Family.

_Melia Azedarach_, L.

Nom. Vulg.--_Paraiso_ (_Paradise_), Sp.-Fil.; _Pride of India_, _China Tree_, Eng.

Uses.--The root was official in the U. S. P., 1880, as an anthelmintic; it is administered in the following form:

Fresh root bark 120 grams. Water 1 liter.

Boil till reduced one half.

Dose.--For a child 1 soup-spoonful every 15 minutes till nausea is produced.

In view of the narcotic effects produced by this drug, the foregoing method of administration seems to us imprudent; we prefer to give 30-70 grams of the decoction and follow with a purgative such as castor oil.

This drug is also tonic, febrifuge and astringent, and a decoction of its leaves and flowers is used as a wash for ulcers. Some believe that the leaves and fruit contain toxic principles, which may well be true considering the effects of large doses of their preparations. It has also been observed that the bark collected in March and April may cause dilatation of the pupil, stupor, etc.; this may be explained by the fact that at this season the sap is rising in the tree and the bark contains an increased amount of active ingredients.

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.; _Ananangtang_, _Bakugan_, _Makasili_, Vis.; _Malabangaw_, Pam.; _Basiloag_, Iloc.

Uses.--The bark of the trunk, dry and finely powdered, is used in doses of 1 1/2-2 1/2 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 leucorrhoea.

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_, _Kalumpang 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 diarrhoea 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 diarrhoea, 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 1 1/2-2 grams both in India and Brazil. The same preparation is used in the Philippines in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea 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 diarrhoea 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 leucorrhoea.

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 diarrhoea, 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 diarrhoea. 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 (C_21_H_31_O_2_) 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 diarrhoea 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.