Chapter 9

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 leucorrhoea 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 diarrhoea 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 diarrhoea, 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_ (C_28_H_25_O_10_) 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 diarrhoea and as a wash for ulcers. Dr. Waitz has successfully used the following formula in treating the chronic diarrhoea 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 diarrhoea 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 diarrhoea 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 diarrhoea. A Hindoo physician, Bhavaprakasa, advises the following receipt:

Juice of leaves of lomboy } Juice of leaves of manga } aa 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 diarrhoea 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 Pharmacopoeia 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 Pharmacopoeia, 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 spermatorrhoea.

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 diarrhoea, and locally in injections of lotions for leucorrhoea and inflamed hæmorrhoids. It should not be given when rectal tenesmus exists. The Pharmacopoeia 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 diarrhoea 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 (C_8_H_15_NO), pseudo-pelletierine (C_9_H_15_NO), and methylpeletierine (C_9_H_17_NO).

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: